
■ ■' <■ <? 






<<- -? 



'i^ 



•X' 



■W - ^^,^V <^_^_ : ^i««Mli^ . .^ >', '• =^ .^V ,r 



.^':<. 






/ 









r;-A 



3^ 






o- 



-/- 



o^- 



x>\\^:a'- 






>^^. 



^°' ^* ^\^ ON ,, '^^ ''' -^ 






aV^' 






0' 



' « « '<^^ 






.V 



■ 0" 



-^^ V 







' ' ^-^^ •-^: ^' % . ^'-^^i^^^ " - .V 







' ' X s;-^ 



*J 



^j 



WHY THE NATIONS 
ARE AT WAR 



BOOKS ABOUT THE WAR 

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE? 

Armageddon and After I 
By CIvOUDESI^EY BREREJTON 

THIRD E^NGLISH E;DITI0N 
128 pages, yd., net 

" Contains the whoi<e phii,osophy op the 
War."— M. Bergson. 

SOME PRESS OPINIONS 

" A popular explanation of the causes of Prussian policy 
which has led to the war and an outline of a settle- 
ment. . . . Mr. Brereton knows Germany and does full justice 
to the excellence of many German institutions. Mr, Brereton's 
style is vivid and forceful, and his little book should furnish 
valuable material to the lecturer. . . . The general effect is 
given with clearness and truth, and there are many interest- 
mg anecdotes and quotations." — Times. 

" One of the best war books we have seen." — Birmingham 
Gazette and Express. 

" This book, though small and inexpensive, is one of the 
important issues of the season." — Academy. 

" This excellent brochure ... is well worth reading by 
every one." — Daily Telegraph. 

AMERICA'S ARRAIGNMENT 
OF GERMANY 

By J. WII.WAM WHITE, Ph.D., LL.D. 

Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, Trustee of the 

University of Pennsylvania 

Crown 8vo. 144 pages, is. net 

Dr. White is a prominent member of Philadelphia society ; 
he examines the pleadings of the friends of Germany in the 
United States, weighs the evidence, and reveals the hollow- 
ness of Germany's claim that she is not the aggressor. In 
conclusion. Dr. White goes deeply into the question of the 
issues of the war as they may ultimately affect the United 
States. 




ONE OF BRITAIN'S LATEST SUBMARINES 
(THE E TYPE) 

Photo A I fieri 



WHY THE NATIONS 
ARE AT WAR 

THE CJUSES JND ISSUES OF 

THE GREAT CONFLICT 

/f GRAPHIC STORY OP fHE mf/O/VS INVOLVED 
THEIR HISTORY ^fND FORMER WARS 
THEIR RULERS AND LEADERS THEIR ARMIES 
AND NAVIES THEIR RESOURCES THE REASONS 
WHY THEY ARE mVOLVED IN THE WAR 

AND THE ISSUES AT STAKE 
BYCHAS. ly^ORRlS gf LAWRENCE H.DAWSON 
WITH A POSTSCRIPT BY EDEN PHILLPOTTS 




LONDON 

GEORGE G. HARRAP & COMPANY 

2 &? 3 PORTSMOUTH STREET KINGSWAY W.C. 

MCMXV 



.lie 



lai^ 



/ , ,._--?- .^- 



PRINTED AT THE COMPI^ETE PRESS 

BY TEMPI.E BAR IN THE CITY OF I,ONDON 

ENGI^AND 



PREFACE 

" THE present state of things," said Dr. Johnson, in words 
that are as true to-day as when they were spoken, " is the 
consequence of the past " ; and he adds, " it is natural to 
inquire as to the sources of the good we enjoy or the evils 
we suffer. If we act only for ourselves, to neglect the study 
of history is not prudent ; if entrusted with the care of 
others, it is not just." 

These words form a fitting prelude to the present work ; 
for it is its object to trace the course of events during the 
past century, to follow the footsteps of men in war and peace 
from that day of upheaval when mediaeval feudalism went 
down in disarray before the arms of the people in the French 
Revolution, and to find therein some explanation of the 
Great War of 1914. 

In the first few chapters we have attempted to give as 
clearly and concisely as possible an account of the causes of 
this Great War in the first and second degree ; that is to 
say, to put before the reader, first, the ostensible reasons 
for its outbreak, and, secondly, the underlying causes — 
the actual events and the more or less intangible ideas 
floating in the mind of man — that made it possible for those 
ostensible reasons to be taken advantage of in the way 
they were. 

In these first chapters we have, as was inevitable, relied 
almost entirely on the official papers of the various belli- 
gerent nations, the only real evidence obtainable ; and by 
the diHgent comparison and collation of these, both with 
themselves and with the contemporary daily press and the 
better-informed reviews, we trust that it will be found that 
we have arrived about as near the truth as it is possible 
to do within six months of the mobilization of Europe. 
Those who seek within these pages for ' secret history ' 
will be disappointed ; and we offer to such persons no 
apology, for ' secret history,' though it may have great 

V 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

fascination has very little permanent value and still less \ 
reliability. 

The greater part of the remainder of the volume is taken up 
with the story of the past century, beginning, in fact, rather 
more than a century ago with the meteoric career of Napoleon, 
and seeking to show to what this led, and what effects it 
had upon the political evolution of mankind. The French 
Revolution stood midway between two epochs of history ; 
and before the world-wide war of 1914 had opened our eyes 
to the survival of barbarity and inhumanity in so-called 
cidture and civilization, we should have held that those two 
epochs were that of mediaeval barbarism and that of modern 
enlightenment. The Revolution exploded like a bomb in 
the midst of the self-satisfied aristocracy of the earlier social 
system and rent it into fragments which no hand could put 
together again ; popular government replaced autocratic 
and aristocratic government in France, and the armies of 
Napoleon spread those radical ideas throughout Europe 
until all oppressed peoples began to look upward with hope 
and see in the distance before them a haven of justice in the 
coming realm of human rights. 

The new conceptions, introduced to the mass of mankind 
by the French Revolution, took time to disseminate them- 
selves. The oppressed peoples had to fight their way 
upward into the light, to win their progress step by step to 
the heights of emancipation. It was a hard struggle. Time 
and again they were cast downward in their climb. The 
powers of privilege, of the ' divine right of kings,' fought 
hard to preserve their ascendancy, and only with discourag- 
ing slowness did the people move onward to the haven they 
so earnestly sought. 

The story of this upward progress is the history of the 
nineteenth century, regarded from the special point of view 
of political progress and the development of human rights ; 
and it is that story, so full of meaning to us in the present 
vi 



PREFACE 

day, that we have told in this volume. The reader of these 
pages will be able to tell, for instance, how and why it has 
come about that while at the opening of the nineteenth 
century Great Britain and Germany, Russia and Austria 
were all leagued against France, the second decade of the 
twentieth found all the Powers of Europe in arms against 
Germany and Austria. He will see what all these countries 
have been through to make them what they are and to place 
them where they stand to-day ; he will learn how the little 
nations have fared — Belgium, Poland, the Balkan States — 
and of what great importance they are ; how Italy attained 
her freedom ; how France came through two further revo- 
lutions, and how the German empire was born. The story 
of Great Britain's progress during the hundred years that 
have elapsed since Waterloo is also sketched out, as well as 
that of her colonies and of the Far East in its bearings upon 
the present situation. 

While the book was passing through the press, Mr. Eden 
Phillpotts published in the Daily Chronicle an article which 
appeared to be so appropriate as a closing chapter to this 
work that we decided to take advantage of his readiness to 
permit of its republication to incorporate it as a postscript. 
Mr. Phillpotts has not thereby, of course, assumed any 
responsibility for the remainder of the book. 



vn 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER I 

ALL EUROPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 

Dramatic Suddenness of the Outbreak : Widespread 
Influences : The Financial Crisis : Terrible Effects 
of War : The World involved : India and Great 
Britain's Colonies : Cost of Modern Warfare pp. 11-21 

CHAPTER II 

THE CAUSES OF THE GREAT 

EUROPEAN WAR 

The Ultimatum to Serbia : Working for Peace 
Mobilization in Europe : The Russian Formula 
Great Britain's First Steps : Underlying Causes 
The Triple Alliance and Triple Entente : Germany'' s 
Complicity : Kaiser Wilhelm II : Neutrality of 
Italy : Germany^ s Inner Purpose : Russia's Part in 
the Cataclysm : France pp. 22-44 

CHAPTER III 

THE CAUSE OF GREAT BRITAIN'S 

PARTICIPATION 

The Neutrality of Belgium : Germany and Belgium 
in 1911 and 1913 ; Germany^s Change in 1914 ; 
Some Prophecies fulfilled : One Excuse for Inva- 
sion of Belgium : Another Excuse : The Declaration 
of War : Germany^ s Bid for British Neutrality : 
Luxemburg : Delivery of the British Ultimatum : 
' A Scrap of Paper ' ; The Last Word : Japan : 
Turkey : Possible Additions to the Nations at War 

pp. 45-64 

CHAPTER IV 

PAN-SLAVISM VERSUS PAN-GERMANISM 
Russia's Part in the Serbian Issue : Strength of the 
Russian Army : The Distribution of the Slavs : 

A 1 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

Origin of Pan-Slavism : The Tsar''s Proclamation : 
The Teutons of Europe : Intermingling of Races : 
The Nations at War pp. 65-75 

CHAPTER V 

EUROPE AT CLOSE OF XVIII CENTURY 

End of Medievalism and Beginning of Modernism 
The Age of Feudalism : Issues of the French Revo- 
lution : How Napoleon won Fame : Conditions in 
France and Germany : Austria and Italy : Spain 
and Poland : Russia and Turkey pp. 76-85 

CHAPTER VI 

THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 

Its Effect on National Conditions finally 

LED TO THE WaR OF 1914 

The Campaign in Italy : The Victory at Marengo : 
Moreau wins Glory at Hohenlinden : Napoleon the 
Idol of France : The Consul made Emperor : The 
Code Napoleon : Campaign of 1805 ; Battle of 
Austerlitz : The Gains of the Empire : The Conquest 
of Prussia : Invasion of Poland : The Check at 
Eylau : Campaign of 1809 ; Great Battles around 
Vienna : Victory at Wagram : The Divorce of 
Josephine pp. 86-117 

CHAPTER VII 

NELSON AND WELLINGTON, THE 

CHAMPIONS OF BRITAIN 

End of the European Reign of Terror 

The Battle of the Nile : Nelson at Copenhagen : 
Defeat of the Danes : Nelson at Trafalgar : Nelson 
wins and dies : The Campaign in Portugal : Oporto 
and Talavera : The French driven from Portugal : 
Wellington in Spain : Madrid occupied pp. 118-136 

2 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER VIII 

THE DECLINE AND FALL OF 

NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 

Dawn of a New Era in Europe 

The Kings and People of Spain : The French 
defeated and Napoleon in Command : The Triumph 
of Wellington : Napoleon's Fatal Enterprise : The 
Grand Army in Russia : Smolensk on Fire : The 
Fight at Borodino : Moscow occupied by the French : 
The Terror of Flame : Napoleon's Dread Dilemma : 
Winter in Full Fury : The Remnant of the Grand 
Army : Europe rises against the Corsican : Napo- 
leon's Last Important Victory : The Last Stand at 
Leipzig : Napoleon exiled to Elba : The Hundred 
Days : End of Napoleon's Career pp. 137-158 



CHAPTER IX 

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA 

Radical Changes in the Map of Europe 

Map-making : Empire-building : Membership of 
the Congress : Reaction the Order of the Day : Brief 
Summary of Changes : Excesses of the Congress : 
The Germanic Confederation : How the other Countries 
fared : Character of the Work done : The Rights of 
the People pp. 159-170 



CHAPTER X 

FURTHER RESULTS OF THE CONGRESS 

The Holy Alliance and the World-wide Fight 

FOR Freedom 

The Grand Alliance : The Holy Alliance : Reaction 
and Rearrangement : Revolution in Spain and 
Naples : Work of the Alliance in Italy : The 

3 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

Spanish Revolt put down : The Allies gain Free- 
dom for Greece : Liberty for Spanish- America : The 
Birth of the Monroe Doctrine pp. 171-183 

CHAPTER XI 

THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 

Its Disintegrating Effect on Natural Conditions 
Reaction under Charles X ; " Down with the Bour- 
bons " ; Louis Philippe on the Throne : Separation 
of Holland and Belgium : Popular Movements in 
Germany and Italy : Poland in Arms : Prosperity 
in Great Britain : An Intolerable Situation : Repre- 
sentation in Parliament : Lord RusselVs Great 
Speech : The Old House of Commons : The Struggle 
for Reform : How Suffrage was gained : The Corn 
Laws repealed pp. 184-202 

CHAPTER XII 

EUROPE IN ARMS IN 1848 

Outbreak of Nineteenth- Century Democracy 

Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity : Reform Out- 
break in Paris : A Republic founded : Revolt in 
Germany and Austria : The Metternich Policy 
fails : The Struggle in Vienna and Berlin : A 
Federal Empire in Germany : Italy strikes for 
Freedom : A French Army occupies Rome : The 
Hungarian Revolution : Kossuth and the Magyars : 
How the Conflict ended pp. 203-215 

CHAPTER XIII 

RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN WAR 

Outcome of Slavic Ambitions in the Near East 
Turkey the ' Sick Man ' of Europe : Oppression 
of the Christians : England and France declare 

4 



CONTENTS 

War : Invasion of the Crimea : The Siege of Sehas- 
topol : Charge of the Light Brigade : The Gallant 
Six Hundred : Sebastopol taken : The Treaty of 
Paris pp. 216-227 

CHAPTER XIV 

THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON 

The Final Overthrow of Napoleonism 

The Coup d'Etat of 1851 ; From President to 
Emperor : The Empire is Peace : War with Austria : 
The Austrians Advance : The Battle of Magenta : 
Possession of Lombardy : French Victory at Sol- 
ferino : Treaty of Peace : Invasion of Mexico : End 
of Napoleon's Career pp. 228-242 

CHAPTER XV 

GARIBALDI AND ITALIAN UNITY 

Power of Austria broken 

The Carbonari : Mazzini and Garibaldi : Cavour, 
the Statesman : The Invasion of Sicily : Occupation 
of Naples : Victor Emmanuel takes Command : 
Watchword of the Patriots : Garibaldi marches against 
Rome : The Naval Battle of Lissa : Final Act of 
Italian Unity pp. 243-254 

CHAPTER XVI 

THE EXPANSION OF GERMANY 

Beginnings of Modern World-Power 

William I of Prussia : Bismarck's Early Career : 
The Schleswig-Holstein Question : Conquest of the 
Duchies : Bismarck s Wider Views : War forced on 
Austria : The War in Italy : Austrians Signal 
Defeat at Koniggratz : The Treaty of Prague : 
Germany after 1866 pp. 255-269 

5 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

CHAPTER XVII 

THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 

Birth of the German Empire and the French Republic 
French Unpreparedness : Discontent in France : 
Causes of Hostile Relations : War with Prussia 
declared : Self-deception of the French : First Meet- 
ing of the Armies : The Stronghold of Metz : Mars- 
la-Tour and Gravelotte : Napoleon III at Sedan : 
Surrender of Napoleon's Army : The Emperor a 
Captive — France a Republic : Bismarck refuses In- 
tervention : Fall of the Fortresses : Paris is Be- 
sieged : Gambetta in Command : Defiant Spirit of 
the French : The Struggle continued : Operations 
before Paris : Fighting in the South : The War at 
an End pp. 270-300 

CHAPTER XVIII 

BISMARCK AND THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE 

Building the Bulwarks of the Twentieth-Century 

Nation 

Bismarck as a Statesman : Uniting the German 
States : William I crowned at Versailles : A Sig- 
nificant Decade : The Problem of Church Power : 
Progress of Socialism : William II and the Resigna- 
tion of Bismarck : Political and Industrial Con- 
ditions in Germany pp. 301-311 

CHAPTER XIX 

GLADSTONE AS AN APOSTLE OF REFORM 

Great Britain a World-Power 

Gladstone and Disraeli : Gladstone's Famous Budget : 
A New Reform Bill : Disraeli's Reform Measure : 
Irish Church Disestablishment : An Irish Land Bill : 
Desperate State of Ireland : The Coercion Bill : 
Wars in Africa : Home Rule for Ireland pp. 312-325 

6 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER XX 

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 

Struggles of a New Nation 

The Republic organized : The Commune of Paris : 
Instability of the Government : Thiers proclaimed 
President : Punishment of the Unsuccessful Generals : 
MacMahon a Royalist President : Grevy, Gambetta, 
and Boulanger : The Panama Canal Scandal : 
Despotism of the Army Leaders : The Dreyfus Case : 
Church and State : The Morocco Controversy 

pp. 326-342 

CHAPTER XXI 

GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 

The Colonizing Nations 

Great Britain as a World-Power : Colonies in the 
Pacific Region : Colonization in Africa : British 
Colonies in Africa : The Mahdi Rebellion in Egypt : 
Gordon at Khartoum : Suppression of the Mahdi 
Revolt : Colonization in Asia : The British in India : 
Colonies in America : Development of Canada : 
Progress in Canada pp. 343-358 

CHAPTER XXII 

THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 

Development of World-Power in the East 

Warlike Invasions of China : Commodore Perry and 
his Treaty : Japan^s Rapid Progress : Origin of the 
Chino- Japanese War : The Position of Korea : Li 
Hung Chang and the Empress : How Japan began 
War : The War on the Sea : Conclusion of the War : 
Europe invades China : China^s Wonderful Pro- 
gress : The Boxer Outbreak : Russian Designs on 
Manchuria : Japan begins War on Russia : The 
Armies meet : Port Arthur taken : Russian Fleet 
defeated : China becomes a Republic pp. 359-380 

7 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

CHAPTER XXIII 

TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 
Checking the Dominion of the Turk in Europe 
The Story of Serbia : Turkey in Europe : The 
Bulgarian Atrocities : The Defence of Plevna : The 
Congress of Berlin : Hostile Sentiments of the 
Balkans : Incitement to War : Fighting begins : 
The Advance on Adrianople : Victories of the 
Allies : The Bulgarian Successes : Steps toward 
Peace : The War resumed : Siege of Scutari : 
Treaty of Peace : Albania : War between the Allies : 
The Final Settlement pp. 381-401 

CHAPTER XXIV 

LOOKING TO THE END OF THE WAR 

A Postscript by Eden Phillpotts 

Germany^s Insensate Ambition : The Great German 
Illusion : The Break-down of Common Sense : Bedlam 
in Europe : The Remedy for the Disease : When the 
End comes pp. 402-407 



PACING 
PAGB 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

One of Britain's latest Submarines Frontispiece 

Sir Edward Grey 16 

King George and King Albert at Furnes 20 

The King's Message in Trafalgar Square 28 

Lord Kitchener and Sir John French 32 

Ruins of Liege Forts 36 

Refugees in Belgium 44 

Destruction of the Cloth Hall at Ypres 52 

The " Waldeck-Rousseau " 60 

An Armoured Train in Action 66 

Sir John Jellicoe and General Joffre 78 

H.M.S. " Iron Duke " 84 

President Poincare 92 

A German Trench and a Bomb-proof Shelter 96 

French Huts behind the First-line Trenches 112 

British Marines at Antwerp 128 

A Pontoon Bridge on the Scheldt 144 

Austrian and German Siege Guns 160 

Dropping a Bomb from an Aeroplane 176 

Anti- Aircraft Krupp Gun 176 

Zeppelin and Zeppelin Shed 192 

Mr Winston Churchill and Sir Francis Lloyd 208 

The Tsar of Russia 224 

British Naval Volunteers returning from Antwerp 240 

The Grand Duke Nicholas 256 

The Russian Advance 272 

The German Crown Prince 288 

The Kaiser and the Imperial Chancellor 304 

9 



THE NATIONS AT WAR --<^ 
The King of Bavaria and Admiral von Tirpitz 320 

An Algerian Sharpshooter 336 

Indian Troops 352 
Japanese Landing at Tsingtau * 368 

British Post Office at Work in France 384 

Kurdish Recruits for the Turkish Army 400 

Map of Europe 10 



10 



Great 
Germd 



Kronstadt< 



Helsingfors "^PETROGRAD 

Germo &° c-Weval ^^^^^^^^ 

totrjJCKHOLIVI ^-hapsa^ ^ 



Maud Is. 



<i^ 



O LibauV 



Memel \ 



Mitau 



Tclshi 



Dvinsf 

Poneviesh 



oPskov 

o 
Ostron 

Lepel o 



Vilna 



^•v. Kovnp 

'nigsbere^ i -n tt o o t a 

'"-^ otetertor^K U b b i A 
oBartenstai^ Minsk 

^ Y^Marienburq Mannisburq J^'"°dno ^ 

^^ Menitein Zy Bobruisk'^ 

'Graudentz^.-'' ^'"^°„„.-, , . 

ihorn ,,.^y~^ 

.^ ^bila. ^^ ^^rest Litovsk 

"^Lodz \lvangorot 

R 6 L A jr% Lubli 

) '^"^""' r \utsk4, ^'"° 

'• qtzenstochotva K.^ " /--Y-^. "^z 
L • ^- y \.^~ L 

'e t_^Cracow^^ Jaroslau (Lemteferi 

\ c J o Chyroiv° /' '\^^. \ 
tz NeuSandez •" < ^-^^Jife. » Kamenetz 

f, Stanistauo ^^^\°f-^-v_^ 



Zhitomir 
Vinitza 



Abosr 



Miskoicz 



Nyiregyhaza 



I c^ -^ SeWfftr i 

^Temesvar ..•■^(fa'nla'n"^^'^^ oBuseo 

Neusatz .<«"' R QMAN I A 

^ — '•' BUKHARESW 




Oyiec, 



r^'^ •- •f!;|^*«^^^ .-'BULGARIA 

MONTENEGRO Pr'sVna < ^ofia 

■• J Vj^ '"'■•^ ' 

J^iiiCattam:fCetinJe "v 

Sc \ \oSkutari,. JJskub \. . 

6.W BACON &C<>LV 127 STRAND, LONDON. 



Philippopolis 



^ <' Aclrianople<> 



GreatBritain and Allies C 
Germany and A ustria L 
Neutral Countries L 



,.„W ■ NORWAY 



Falun 

SWEDE 



mi h. 
STOCKHOLM 



Novgorod 



o\Newcastle 



/9 



York 
-oUm^ck %,Mo„y~<^ °Manohester 

Cork ^'^'"■'t ^ '^''"*^ Sheffield 



'^t.Grimsbtj 



Norhkdpmg t^ tj^^- ^f 

\risUansahd *57 "^ // A /^T^ ^ 

^^^ ^^ ^Gotiienburg ( ( Lmmd 

Kalmarj/fOliuid V Libau] 

(\6lsi"a >i — "^VKarlsiToiia <\ 
, „ COPENHAGEN V l\\ Lepel o 

£sl!jerg':^.'-[[ "^nbo^^L^ ^ "ft ^ /] X;>'^'"^" Vilna 

'Flksbum[--V <a, ^""'"miii// °lnsterbi,rgK U S S I A 

BeligoUmd '^^A'^r\f' ^y^'^^ Calbemg^ Stelp '^\r °dartaisUiii "Minsk 

' «/«« -^.HfiMBuftT °''"*"^i!^y X'''"'*i L mieniteln °y " " Bobruisk 



Klolm 



OrshS' 



BRITISH , 

PembroKt 



Brecon \ "Birmingham 
flxford 



Heiderk 



I SLES 



'Schmrin '^'"^ oStarqard ' /^™"*"'?---''""^' „„. , ,, 
iW o ° c •"■- — "— °Bielostok 

,miob -- HI-, g -')'«"''"'!? "Bremen ■^'S^w/'m «(y|^ ^'^'"^^j^m 

Loaz s Imngoroi 

Lubli, 



■&■ .^Cherbourg Die^t^ t"^!'!9<'°\ ,*..', A Frankfort Co6u^ ^-""iarlsbad^ 



W 



/• y.<>tesse i, ^Cracow 



StPo, 



Beauvois <^iS- , \- i.°^Omfburg 



Prague 



«g" (LemSferg) ^._. 



•arnow ^p,,^,^. 



'ofieinis ,/ r^"" o Nuremberg \ fttecn .'^O/mutz HeuSandez ^ < v^^tjfe, I 

^^^i^^^t.MetZ i«W ° ^ ■-.. Brunno .. C. StanislauT'^^-o^ 



row X •afctraech..r,6 ^ V^ 



Brunn^ 
•^Budmis oLundenburg 



^-motin 

, 9-v~-r,,^,\ I ., fi^ CzernmitJ'y:'^.^ 

StraSSburfc <CrHl '"S'"^^''l\^ Um ^__VIENNA .,,,0 Nyiregyhaza ^x V V 

,^St.Haiuipe Jngers_ ^,-'^ „ loHj/wi^ Mulhatsgl _^,^^,„^„„ Munich <_..,_. .?S™1'= /fomorm^ 



'>. o/ousel i^.^.,^^"!!'^" ""^Salzburg 



Gross**' 



.7 0/" 



i s c ay 



^oehe if K A J>>4j Ij to ••' .BERN AV-J J * Gpaz° c'X Berlaif 

L „ UonUucono ^ •>-? S ^fl?^„ ■■-. *?,*'*" ^---x °K!nn>nf„n Janasa > Szegedin Jrad Karlsburg ■ I a„ij, \ 



AngoulemR "Ferram 



'S^i'tianu'^. /' ^ {Trent .' t/dfne V- 



Agram 



^Temesvar 



-,rrvrn7a';'^>'' 



BORDEi. 

rxft/on / tot*. 'S%. °Cahors Hbntelimarjb "*"* 

, -_^ ,W /*'"S°" ^oMo^tauban "'"^ 
Sanuin3er''^^^_^''!/0'inJ 1 

^i«2j^ Toulouse^ fc 

° Pomp&a-^X-s.^ .?™'*''™^,„ /Marseilles 

SPAIN '."^'.^-i^r^^'^hvignan »- 






Mce. 



a >. 

< -oBologna 
Jpeiia<* ° '^j 

FLORENCEV 



oHuisca 
Sarugossa 



s ei. 



berona. 




■^Belgrade / xvu«i.^i^j 

tojaMfl .' ^^•■♦>^^'■Sy*~) BUKHARESTt 

.^st.r_i...S£RVIA ,.• BULGARIA^^'^'^ 

INTENESBO /"s£/m ( ''Sofia 



'Cetinje \, ^.^ .^t' 

ioSkutaW,! JJskub \ 



Diuma 



Philippopolis ./•> 
Adpianoplj<> 



G.IY BACON Ad a" Kl filMNO. LONDON. 



ICHAPTER I 

IaLL EUROPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 

j Dramatic Suddenness of the Outbreak : Widespread 
I Influences : The Financial Crisis : Terrible Effects 
I of War : The World involved : India and Great 

Britain's Colonies : Cost of Modern Warfare 
AT the opening of the final week of July, 1914, the whole 
world — with the exception of Mexico, in which the smoulder- 
ing embers of revolution still burned — was in a state of 
profound peace. The clattering hammers and whirling 
wheels of industry were everywhere to be heard ; great 
ships furrowed the ocean waves, deep-laden with the world's 
products and carrying thousands of travellers bent on busi- 
ness or enjoyment. Countless trains, drawn by smoke- 
belching locomotives, traversed the long leagues of iron 
rails, similarly laden with passengers engaged in peaceful 
errands and freight intended for peaceful purposes. All 
seemed at rest so far as national hostile sentiments were 
concerned. All was in motion so far as useful industries 
demanded service. Europe, America, Asia, and Africa 
alike had for long settled down as if to a holiday from war, 
and the advocates of universal peace were jubilant over the 
progress of their cause, holding peace congresses and con- 
ferences at The Hague and elsewhere, and giving Nobel 
prizes of honour even to so questionable an advocate of 
peace as Theodore Roosevelt, the redoubtable Colonel of 
Rough Riders. And yet, below the surface apparently so 
calm and restful, hostile forces which had long been fomenting 
were ready to burst forth and whelm the world. 

Dramatic Suddenness of the Outbreak 
On the night of July 25th the vast majority of the people 
of Europe settled down to restful slumbers, little thinking 
of the coming turmoil. On the morning of the 26th they 
rose to learn that a great war had begun, a conflict the 

11 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

possible width and depth of which no man was able to fore- 
see ; and as day after day passed on, each day some new 
nation springing into the terrible arena until practically the 
whole of Europe was in arms and the Armageddon seemed - 
to be approaching, those people stood amazed and astounded, 
wondering what hand had loosed so vast a catastrophe, 
what deep and secret causes lay below its ostensible origin. 
As a panic at times affects a vast assemblage, with no one 
aware of its why and wherefore, so a wave of hostile senti- 
ment may sweep over vast communities until the air is full of 
urgent demands for war with scarce a man knowing why. 
What is already said only feebly outlines the state of 
consternation into which the world was cast in that fate- 
ful week in which the doors of the Temple of Janus "were 
suddenly thrown wide open and the terrible God of War 
marched forth, the whole earth trembling beneath his feet. 
It was the breaking of a mighty storm in a placid sky, the 
fall of a meteor which spreads terror and destruction on all 
sides, the explosion of a bomb of gigantic power in a vast 
assemblage ; it was everything that can be imagined of the 
sudden and overwhelming, of the amazing and incredible. 

Widespread Influences 

For the moment the world stood irresolute and amazed, 
plunged into a panic that threatened to stop all its activities. 
The chambers of finance throughout the nations were closed, 
to prevent that wild and hasty action which precipitates 
disaster. Throughout Europe trade, industry, and commerce 
were paralyzed at their sources. Few ships of any of the 
nations concerned dared venture from port, lest they should 
fall a prey to the prowHng sea-dogs of war which made all 
the oceans unsafe. The hosts of English and American 
tourists who had gone to the continent under the sunny 
skies of peace suddenly beheld the dark clouds of war rolling 
overhead, blotting out the sun, and casting their black 
12 



ALL EUROPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 

shadows over all things fair. The steady-going habits and 
occupations of peace ceased or were perilously threatened, 
and no one could be sure of escaping from some of the dire 
effects of the catastrophe. 

When a great war comes upon the world the conditions of 
production vanish, to be replaced by conditions of destruc- 
tion. That which had been growing in grace and beauty for 
years is overturned and destroyed in a moment of savagery. 
Changes of this kind are not confined to the countries in 
which the war rages or the cities which conquering 
columns of troops occupy. They go beyond the borders 
of military activity ; they extend to far-off quarters of 
the earth. 

The Financial Crisis 

We have already mentioned that at the very outbreak of 
the war the Stock Exchanges of the world were closed ; 
and in most countries the financial situation generally was, 
for a time at all events, serious. 

In London the crisis began about the middle of July, and 
on the last day of that month the bank rate was doubled, 
reaching 8 per cent. This, however, did not stem the rush, 
I and next day the bank rate was at the almost unprecedented 
figure of 10 per cent. On that Saturday the banks in London 
and the larger towns were besieged by depositors anxious 
to withdraw gold, and it was with a sigh of relief that they 
closed their great doors at one o'clock, knowing that they 
would have till the following Tuesday for respite. 
Better things, however, were in store for them. Parlia- 
ment met on the Monday, Bank Holiday, and among 
other measures of financial protection proposed by the 
Chancellor of the Exchequer and carried unanimously by 
the House of Commons was one that the banks should 
remain closed for a further three days, and another pro- 
claiming a partial moratorium, temporarily releasing debtors, 

13 



THE NATIONS AT WAR i 

and more particularly the banks, from their obligations in 
respect of money owed by them. ' 

By such measures as these what would undoubtedly have' 
been a very serious panic was avoided. By August 8thf; 
the bank rate was down again to 5 per cent., the moratorium^ 
finally expired on November 4th, and before the New Year,» 
1915, was a week old the London Stock Exchange reopened,! 
though on a restricted basis. As an indication of how seriousf 
things had been financially we may mention that it hasf 
been estimated that during the eleven days previous to thef 
closing of the Stock Exchange the depreciation in respectf 
of 387 representative securities amounted to no less than! 
£188,000,000. t 

In all the capitals of Europe, of course, financial transac-P 
tions came virtually to a standstill. This sudden stoppage' 
was accompanied by a partial cessation of the industries or 
peace over a wide range of territory. The artisan was^ 
forced to let fall the tools of his trade and take up those o^ 
war. The customary uses of the railways were largely f 
suspended for the purpose of conveying soldiers and military | 
supplies, but although travel certainly went on under' 
difficulties, it was a matter of wonder and congratulation f| 
to the railway companies that so little inconvenience was< 
experienced in England. '[ 

War makes business active in one direction, and in one only, '' 
that of army and navy supply, of the manufacture of the! 
implements of destruction, of vast quantities of explosives,! 
of multitudes of death-dealing weapons. Food-supplies needp 
to be diverted in the same direction, the demands off 
the soldier being considered first, those of the home people |' 
last, the latter being often supplied at starvation prices.^ 
There is plenty of work to do — of its kind. But it is of- 
a kind that more often injures than aids the people of the^ 
nations. ' 

\ 
14 li 



I ALL EUROPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 

Terrible Effects of War 

;This individual source of misery and suffering in war-time 
'is accompanied by the destruction of human hfe and of 
[property, and frequently of merciless brigandage and de- 
vastation. It is horrible to think of the frightful suffering 
I caused on the battle-field. Immediate death might reason- 
I ably be welcomed as an escape from the suffering arising from 
I wounds, the terrible mutilations, the injuries that incapaci- 
itate throughout life, the conversion of hosts of able-bodied 
: men into feeble invalids, to be kept by the direct aid of their 
i fellows or the indirect aid of the people at large through a 
system of pensions. And side by side with the physical 
'sufferings of the soldiers are the mental anxieties of their 
'families at home, their terrible suspense, the effect upon 
ithem of tidings of the maiming or death of those dear to 
I them or on whose labour they immediately depend. The 
'harvest of misery arising from this cause it is impossible to 
'estimate. It is not visible in the open. It dwells unseen 
in humble homes, in city, village, or field, borne often un- 
complainingly, but not less poignantly. But while the 
glories of war are celebrated with blast of trumpet and 
roll of drum, the terrible accompaniment of groans of misery 
is too apt to pass unheard and die away forgotten. 
To turn from this roll of horrors, there are costs of war in 
other directions to be considered. These include the ravage 
of cities by flame or pillage, the loss of splendid works of 
architecture, the irretrievable destruction of great produc- 
tions of art, the vanishing of much on which the world had 
long set store. 

Not only on land, but at sea as well, the tide of destruction 
rises and swells. Huge warships, built at a cost of hundreds 
of thousands of pounds and tenanted by hundreds of hardy 
sailors, may be torn and rent by shot and shell or sent to 
the bottom with all on board by the explosion of mines or 
torpedoes beneath their unprotected lower hulls at almost 

15 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

any moment. The torpedo, the mine, the submarine, andi 
other agencies of unseen destruction, have added enormously! 
to the horrors of naval warfare, while the airship and aero-i 
plane, letting fall their bombs from the sky, add not only tol 
the terror and torment of the battle-field, but to the dangers! 
of the deep. i 

The World involved , 

We began this chapter with a statement of the startHngi 
suddenness of this great war, and the widespread conse- ' 
quences which immediately followed. As for its issues, 
the disturbing and distracting consequences which cannot 
fail to follow any great modern war between civiHzed nations 
we had some examples of these on a small scale in the recent 
Balkan-Turkish War. That was of minor importance, and 
Its effects, many of them sanguinary and horrible, were 
mamly confined to the region in which it occurred ; but a 
war covermg nearly a whole continent cannot be confined 
and circumscribed in its consequences. All the world must 
feel them m a measure-though diminishing with distance. 
Ihe vast expanse of water which separates the United States 
trom the European continent could not save its citizens 
from feeling certain ill effects from the struggle. America 
and Europe are tied together with many bonds of business 
and interest, and the severing or weakening of these could 
not fail to be seriously felt; while questions of contraband 
ot war and the conveyance in American ships to neutral 
countries of merchandize whose ultimate destination might 
possibly be a belligerent country, were bound to lead to 
some little uneasiness in business and diplomatic circles. 

India and Great Britain's Colonies 
Of Frederick the Great, the mighty forerunner of the Kaiser, 
Macaulay has said in words that can never be forgotten ; 
The evils produced by his wickedness were felt in lands 




SIR EDWARD GREY 

Photo Alfieri 



i6 



ALL EUROPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 

where the name of Prussia was unknown ; and, in order that 
he might rob a neighbour whom he had promised to defend, 
black men fought on the coast of Coromandel, and red men 
scalped each other by the Great Lakes of North America." 
To-day one cannot but be reminded of these words— but 
with a difference. The war has indeed spread from Arch- 
angel to the frontiers of the Antarctic, from Japan and the 
farthest islands of the South Pacific round the world to 
the western coasts of South America ; but so far from the 
natives of the coast of Coromandel and the dwellers by 
the Great Lakes of North America seeking to fight among 
themselves, they are vying with each other as to who shall 
send the greatest number of men and the largest supplies 
of the sinews of war to assist in defeating the Prussian. 
Early in September it was announced in the House of 
Commons that India had already dispatched over 70,000 
men, and that three more cavalry brigades would follow at 
once ; offers of personal service came from almost all the 
700 ruling chiefs ; Nepal provided the Gurkhas with machine 
guns, the Maharajah of Mysore subscribed fifty lakhs of 
rupees (about £333,300) toward the expenses of the Expe- 
ditionary Force, and other Maharajahs and Nizams offered 
their troops, their treasuries, and even their jewellery. 
From Canada came as a first contingent a division of 22,000 
men, an additional cavalry regiment, two horse artillery 
batteries, an infantry battalion of ex-regulars, and three 
other units of 1000 men each from New Brunswick, Manitoba, 
and Calgary. This force was soon raised to a strength of 
100,000. Besides personal gifts of batteries of field artillery 
and machine guns, steam yachts, motor-cars, and the like, 
Canada gave to the Government of the United Kingdom 
one milhon 98-lb. bags of flour, 500,000 bushels of oats, over 
4,000,000 lb. of cheese, 100,000 bushels of potatoes and the 
same number of tons of coal, 25,000 cases of tinned salmon 
from British Columbia, 1500 remounts from Saskatchewan, 

B ir 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

with a further 250,000 bags of flour and 500,000 dollars in 
cash from Ontario, and 50,000 bags of flour from Manitoba ; 
and by the beginning of October a fleet of thirty-two trans- 
ports, escorted by warships, left the St Lawrence carrying fe 
aboard 31,250 men with 7500 horses and the full equipment J 
of an army. p 

A second Expeditionary Force was soon after ready for I 
dispatch, and as these and others were called on for active \ 
service their places in the waiting army were filled by fresh [ 
recruits. i) 

The response of Australia was as emphatic and as prompt j, 
as that of the Dominion. The Government of the Common- \ 
wealth at once placed the Royal Australian Navy under || 
the control of the Admiralty, and the invaluable work done j 
by it in planting the British flag in German New Guinea and , 
elsewhere, and in cornering and destroying the Emden is well \ 
known. Australia at the same time offered an Expeditionary 
Force of 20,000 men as a first instalment ; these were sent 
off with all possible dispatch, and by the end of November 
a further 20,000 were ready. j 

Like Canada, Australia has large numbers of men training ] 
to take their place in the fighting line ; and, again like 
Canada and all parts of the British possessions, she did not 
confine her gifts to men, but sent large sums of money to 
the various funds that were raised for the relief of distress, 
the Red Cross societies, etc., and immense quantities of 
home-grown produce. The latter included frozen meat, port 
wine, butter, bacon, and condensed milk. 
New Zealand also gave her Navy (which early distinguished 
itself by capturing Samoa) and an Expeditionary Force of 
8000 men ; besides valuable gifts in money and kind. Maori 
chiefs obtained the eagerly sought permission for themselves 
and their men to take their place in the fighting line ; and 
from all over the Empire, from Fiji, from the Red Indians, 
from the South African tribes, and from numbers of native 
18 



ALL EUROPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 

races whose very names are unknown to most of the dwellers 
at home, came prayers that they might be allowed to go to 
the assistance of their Great White King. 
South Africa itself was not able to send an Expeditionary 
Force overseas, partly because there were large German 
colonies at her very doors, and partly because a small and 
disaffected minority of her Boer population took the oppor- 
tunity to rise in rebellion. But the work done by United South 
Africa has been as necessary and valuable as that done by any 
of the sons of the Mother Country, in spite of the fact that her 
soldiers could not aid in lining the trenches in Flanders. 

Cost of Modern Warfare 

Let us close this preliminary chapter with a consideration, 
not of the immediate effect of war, but of its final cost. In 
the end, after the storm has passed, the changes of territory, 
if any, are made, and industry has begun to revive, what 
remains ? There is left a load of debt that for half a century 
or longer after the war will hang like a chain around the 
necks of the people, every man and woman of which will 
feel its constricting bonds. 

Although actual figures are naturally unobtainable, careful 
estimates have been made and it is found that, taking the 
expenses of the four Great Powers only, the war is costing 
over £8,400,000 per day. This leaves out of account what 
Austria, Serbia, Belgium, and Japan have spent and are 
spending, neither does it include our own expenses in Africa 
or the outer seas, nor the pay and equipment of our Indian 
and Colonial contingents. The total spent by these four 
nations for the five months to the end of 1914 must 
be well over £1,260,000,000, and when we compare these 
figures with the total cost of the Panama Canal, one of the 
most useful aids to the commerce of the world, a modest 
£77,000,000, we realize to some extent how vastly more 
expensive is war than peace. 

19 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

It must be remembered, too, that the figures given, enormous 
though they are, do not allow for the waste of life and 
material, the destruction of cities, towns, villages, cathedrals, 
and priceless works of art and antiquity, fortresses and 
battleships, nor do they take into account the trade losses 
involved. They represent only the actual money raised to 
keep the armies of the nations before mentioned in the field ; 
so, even if we deducted the amounts that would in the 
ordinary course of events be spent in the provisioning and 
clothing these millions of men, the sums we should have to 
add for these and other contingent war-liabilities would 
make a total very much in excess of the figures given. 
Beyond this, too, we ought to take into consideration the 
expenses of the nations in preparing for this terrific conflict. 
The table given below shows that during the thirteen years 
preceding 1914 Great Britain, Germany, France, Austria- 
Hungary, and Russia spent on their armies and navies little 
short of £4,000,000,000. 

Total for Thirteen Years' Army and Navy Expendi- 
ture IN Great Britain, Germany, France, Austria- 
Hungary, AND Russia (1901-2 — 1914) 

Army Navy 

Great Britain £502,173,713 £524,559,600 

Germany 567,254,780 218,464,985 

France 471,177,488 200,253,320 

Austria-Hungary 186,229,937 32,001,144 

Extraordinary 16,607,000 5,041,166 

Russia 683,178,901 198,416,872 

Extraordinary 296,951,723 13,044 



£2,723,573,542 £1,178,750,131 

The money thus expended on preparation for war during 
the thirteen years named would, if spent in railway and 
20 




M 



O 



M 



O - 

> s 

1^ ■+; 



O ^ 
O 

o 
o 



ALL EUROPE PLUNGED INTO WAR 

marine construction, have given vast commercial power to 
these nations. To what extent have they been benefited by 
the rivalry to gain precedence in military power ? They 
stand on practically the same basis now that it is all at an 
end. Would they not be on the same basis if it had never 
begun ? Apart from this is the incentive to employ these 
vast armaments in the purpose for which they were designed, 
the natural effect of creating a military spirit and developing 
a military caste. 

This enormous expense which was incurred in preparation 
needed to be rapidly increased to meet the expenses of actual 
warfare. The British House of Commons authorized war 
credits amounting to over £420,000,000, a sum which in- 
cludes the war-loan of £350,000,000, which was subscribed 
so readily ; while the German Reichstag voted £250,000,000. 
Similarly France, Austria, and all the other countries con- 
cerned had to set aside vast sums for their respective 
war-chests. 

And when the roar of the cannon ceases and the nations are 
at rest, then dawns the era of payment, inevitable, unescape- 
able, one in which for generations every man and woman 
must share. 



21 



CHAPTER II 

THE CAUSES OF THE GREAT 

EUROPEAN WAR 

The Ultimatum to Serbia : Working for Peace : 
Mobilization in Europe : The Russian Formula : 
Great Britain's First Steps : Underlying Causes : 
The Triple Alliance and Triple Entente : Ger- 
many's Complicity : Kaiser Wilhelm II : Neutrality 
of Italy : Germany's Inner Purpose : Russia's Part 
in the Cataclysm : France 
WHAT brought on the mighty war which so suddenly burst 
forth ? What pride of power, what lust of ambition, what 
desire for imperial dominion cast the armed hosts of the 
nations into the field of conflict, and caused multitudes of 
innocent victims to be sacrificed to the insatiate blood- 
hunger of the modern Moloch ? 

For a continent to spring in a week's time from complete 
peace into a war which rapidly became almost universal, 
with all the great and several of the small Powers involved, is 
not to be explained by an apophthegm or embraced within 
the limits of a paragraph ; but we will here give, first, as 
concisely as may be, a resume of the immediate events that 
led to the outbreak of hostilities, and secondly, an account 
of the deeper-lying causes of the Great War. 

The Ultimatum to Serbia 

On June 28th, 1914, the heir to the Austrian throne, Francis 
Ferdinand, and his wife, while on an official visit to Serajevo, 
the capital of Bosnia, were assassinated, the assassin being 
a Serbian student, supposed to have come for that purpose 
from Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. 

As a consequence of this abominable crime difficulties arose 
between the Cabinets of Vienna and Belgrade, difficulties 
concerning which the majority of the Powers were only semi- 
officially informed up to Friday, July 24th, when the Austro- 
22 



THE CAUSES OF THE WAR 

Hungarian ambassadors communicated a circular to them. 
The object of this circular was to explain and justify an 
ultimatum delivered to Serbia the evening before by the 
Austro-Hungarian minister at Belgrade. 
The ultimatum was based on the undertaking made in 1909 
by Serbia, to recognize the annexation by Austria of Bosnia 
and Herzegovina, and reproached the Serbian Government 
with having tolerated an anti- Austrian propaganda in which 
officials, the army, and the press had taken part, a propa- 
ganda which, it was maintained, threatened the security 
and integrity of Austria, and the danger of which had been 
shown by the crime of the 28th of June. This crime had been, 
according to the Austrian official view, planned at Belgrade. 
The Austrian Government first explained in this Note that 
they were compelled to put an end to a propaganda which 
formed a permanent danger to their tranquillity, and to 
require from the Serbian Government an official pronounce- 
ment of their determination to condemn and suppress it, by 
publishing in the Official Gazette of the 26th a declaration, the 
terms of which were stated, condemning it, expressing their 
regret, and threatening to crush it. A general order of the 
king to the Serbian army was at the same time to make 
these declarations known to the army. In addition to this, 
the Serbian Government was to undertake to suppress anti- 
Austrian publications, to dissolve Pan-Slavistic societies, 
to dismiss those officers and civil servants whose names the 
Austrian Government would give them, to accept the co- 
operation of Austrian officials in suppressing the subversive 
acts to which their attention had been directed, as well as 
for the investigation into the assassination, and finally to 
proceed to the immediate arrest of a Serbian officer and an 
official who were said to be concerned. 

The ultimatum also hinted that the Serbian authorities them- 
selves were no strangers to the Serajevo crime, and demanded 
a reply by Saturday, July 25th. 

23 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

Many of the Austrian demands were such as to strike a 
severe blow at the rights of a sovereign state ; but in spite 
of their drastic character, Serbia, on July 25th, agreed 
to publish in the Journal Officiel of the following day the 
required declaration, and to communicate it to the army 
by means of an Order of the Day ; they also agreed to 
dissolve the societies of national defence and all other 
associations which might possibly agitate against Austria ; 
to modify the press law ; and to dismiss from the army and 
the government offices all officials proved to have taken 
part in the propaganda, if Austria would furnish the names 
of such persons. 

As to the participation of Austrian officials in the inquiry, 
Serbia humbly asked for an explanation of the manner in 
which this would be exercised. She could accept no partici- 
pation which conflicted with international law or with good 
and neighbourly relations. 

Serbia accepted all the other demands of the ultimatum 
and even went so far as to declare that if the Austro-Hun- 
garian Government were not content with this, she was 
ready to refer the matter to The Hague Tribunal or to the 
Great Powers. 

This submission, which was a success for Austria, was to 
a large extent due to the advice tendered to Belgrade from 
the first by Great Britain, France, and Russia. 
The demands had been concealed from the Chancelleries of 
these Powers, which in the three preceding weeks had on 
several occasions received assurances that the claims would 
be extremely moderate; it was, therefore, with natural 
astonishment that they learned on July 26th that the 
Austrian minister at Belgrade, after a few minutes' examina- 
tion, had declared that the Serbian reply was inacceptable, 
and had broken off diplomatic relations. 

This astonishment was increased by the fact that meanwhile 
the German ambassadors at the various capitals had asserted 
24 



THE CAUSES OF THE WAR 

that the Austro-Serbian dispute must remain locaUzed, 
without intervention by the Great Powers, or otherwise 
' incalculable consequences ' were to be feared. 

Working for Peace 

In spite, however, of the threatening expressions used by 
Germany, the Powers persevered in their conciliatory course 
and invited Germany to join in it. But their efforts met 
with no response at Berlin. 

Had Germany chosen to speak in Vienna as she speaks when 
she is in earnest the plague would have been stayed ; but 
from this moment she seemed actually to intervene between 
the Dual Monarchy and the compromises suggested by the 
other Powers, and on Tuesday, July 28th, Austria declared 
war on Serbia. 

There was now involved in the dispute not only the in- 
dependence of a brave people, and the balance of power in 
the Balkans, embodied in the Treaty of Bukarest of 1913 
(of which we speak in a later chapter) and consecrated by 
the moral support of all the Great Powers, but also the more 
than likely intervention of Russia, and thus the balance of 
power in the whole of Europe. 

However, Sir Edward Grey, the British Minister for Foreign 
Affairs, still continued to do all that was possible to ensure 
the maintenance of peace, and from his efforts emerged a 
proposal for action on the part of the four Powers, England, 
France, Germany, and Italy, which was intended, by 
assuring to Austria all legitimate satisfaction, to bring 
about an equitable adjustment of the dispute. 
But still all the efforts made by Great Britain, with the 
adherence of Russia and the support of France, to bring 
Austria and Serbia into touch under the moral patronage 
of Europe, were encountered at Berlin with a predetermined 
negative of which the diplomatic dispatches afford the 

clearest proof. 

25 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

This was a disquieting situation which made it probable 
. that there existed at Berhn intentions which had not been 
disclosed. Some hours afterward this alarming suspicion 
was destined to become a certainty. 

Mobilization in Europe 

On Wednesday, the 29th, the Russian Government, noting 
the persistent failure of the efforts for peace, faced by the 
Austrian mobilization and declaration of war, and fearing 
the military destruction of Serbia, decided as a precautionary 
measure to mobilize the troops of the four military districts 
along the Austro-Hungarian frontier. At the same time 
it had informed the German Government that these 
measures, restricted as they were and without any offensive 
character toward Austria, were not in any degree directed 
against Germany. 

This partial mobilization undertaken by Russia in defence 
of the Serbian people both for reasons of sentiment and 
policy, based on close kinship of race and religion, gave 
Germany the excuse for which— true to the Bismarckian 
tradition— she had been seeking, and on July 31st, by 
proclaiming ' a state of danger of war,' she cut the com- 
munications between herself and the rest of Europe, and was 
able to pursue against France in absolute secrecy military 
preparations which could be justified only on the assumption 
that she was about to make war, for she well knew that any 
offensive steps taken by her against Russia must, by treaty 
obligations, be followed by an attack on her by Russia's 
ally, France. 

For some days, and in circumstances difficult to explain, 
Germany had prepared for the transition of her army from 
a peace to a war footing. From the morning of July 25th, 
before the expiration of the time limit given to Serbia, she 
had confined to barracks the garrisons of Alsace-Lorraine, 
and had placed the frontier works in a complete state of 
26 



THE CAUSES OF THE WAR 

defence. On the 26th she had completed with the railways 
her arrangements for concentration ; on the next day she 
placed her covering troops in position ; and on the 28th 
the simimons of individual reservists had begun and units 
which were distant from the frontier had been brought up 
to it. These measures, pursued with implacable method, 
give us a very clear hint of Germany's intentions. 
Such was the situation when, on the evening of July 31st, 
the German Government, which, since the 24th, had not 
participated by any active step in the conciliatory efforts 
of the other Powers, addressed an ultimatum to the Russian 
Government, demanding that her mobilization should be 
stopped within twelve hours. 

The Russian Formula 

This demand, which was all the more insulting because a 
few hours earlier the Tsar, with a movement at once confiding 
and spontaneous, had asked the German Emperor for his 
mediation, was put forward at a moment when, at the 
request of England and with the knowledge of Germany, 
the Austrian Government was accepting a formula of such 
a nature as to lay the foundation for a friendly settlement 
by the simultaneous cessation of military preparations. 
For, soon after midnight of the 29th, Russia had offered to 
hold up all her preparations if Austria would consent to do 
the same, and if she would recognize " that the Austro- 
Serbian conflict has assumed the character of a question 
of European interest, and admit that the Great Powers 
may examine the satisfaction which Serbia can accord to 
the Austro-Hungarian Government without injury to her 
sovereign rights as a state and to her independence." 
On the 31st, Austria-Hungary declared her readiness to dis- 
cuss the substance of her ultimatum to Serbia. M. Sazonof, 
the Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs, expressed his 
satisfaction, and said it was desirable that the discussions 

27 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

should take place in London with the participation of the 
Great Powers. He also hoped that the British Government 
would assume the direction of these discussions. 
Thus Austria now agreed to do the very thing that previously 
she had so strongly protested against, viz., to reconsider the 
whole question of her ultimatum to Serbia. Germany, as 
well as all the other Powers, was at once made aware of this, 
but delay— with the possible entire abandonment of hostilities 
—was the last thing that Germany wanted, and her ulti- 
matum to Russia effectually destroyed every hope of those 
who were striving for peace. __ 

This ultimatum to Russia was followed on the same day by 
acts which were frankly hostile toward France ; the rupture 
of communications by road, railway, telegraph, and tele- 
phone, the seizure of French locomotives on their arrival 
at the frontier, the placing of machine guns in the middle of 
the permanent way which had been cut, and the concen- 
tration of troops on the frontier ; six classes of reservists 
were called up, and transport was collected even for 
army corps situated in the heart of the country. 
Meanwhile mobilization had been proceeding in France 
pari passu with that in Germany. On July 25th measures 
of precaution were taken by the concentration of troops 
in the fortresses of Toul, Nancy, Neufchatel, and Troyes, on 
the Franco-German frontier. On the following day officers 
were recalled, and on the 28th manoeuvres, which were 
already in progress, were abandoned. Partial mobilization 
was ordered on the 29th, and on the 31st the covering troops 
were put on a war footing. On the afternoon of August 1st, 
after the German ultimatum had been sent to Russia, and 
at the same time as the order for general mobilization in 
Germany was issued, France ordered the entire mobilization 
of her army and navy. 

The same evening at 7.30, Germany, without waiting for 
the acceptance by the Cabinet of Petrograd of the Enghsh 
2o 




< 

Q 

Pi 
< 
O 

< 

< 

H 

O 
W 
< 

a 

CO 

Pi 
< 
o 
h4 
<1 

<; 



[ 



THE CAUSES OF THE WAR 

proposal already mentioned, declared war on Russia, and 
the next day, Sunday, August 2nd, in defiance of inter- 
national law, German troops crossed the French frontier 
at three different points. 

Great Britain's First Steps 

Great Britain, meanwhile, was not letting the grass grow 
under her feet. Had the matter in hand been a question 
merely of a dispute between Austria-Hungary and Serbia, 
she would have maintained the same careful attitude of 
neutrality that distinguished her during the Balkan wars 
of 1912-13 ; but this was a far more serious and widely 
spreading conflagration, and so threatening to her that she 
was obliged to take steps to meet anything that might 
happen. 

Quite apart from any necessity, either of honour or of 
ultimate self-defence, to go to the assistance of the little 
nations. Great Britain found herself by the mere force of 
circumstances obliged to take a prominent part in the 
coming Armageddon, or else go to the wall. 
Because Serbia was the chief obstacle to the Austro-German 
advance to the Mediterranean and to the establishment of 
complete German control of the Balkans, the Dardanelles, 
Asia Minor, and of the land and sea routes to Egypt and 
India, Austria and Germany decided that the existence of 
Serbia as a separate kingdom must cease. 
Russia's defence of what to her was a vital interest had 
drawn France into the arena, both by virtue of their 
treaties and by the necessities of her situation and political 
independence ; and Great Britain was bound by every ob- 
ligation of interest, friendship, and honour actively to side 
with Russia and France, lest the balance of power on the 
Continent were upset to her disadvantage, and she left to 
face a predominant Germany alone. Great Britain could 
no more afford to see France crushed by Germany than 

29 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

Germany could afford to see Austria overwhelmed by Russia ; P 
the Power that dominates France would dominate Belgium 
and the Netherlands, and threaten the very foundations of 
the empire's existence— British sea-power. 
For some years before those last days of July, owing to the 
feeling of confidence and friendship that existed between 
France and Great Britain, the French fleet had been con- 
centrated in the Mediterranean, leaving the northern and 
western coasts of France absolutely undefended, and on 
August 2nd Sir Edward Grey gave France the assurance 
(subject to its endorsement by Parliament) that " if the 
German fleet comes into the Channel or through the North 
Sea to undertake hostile operations against French coasts 
or shipping, the British fleet will give all the protection in 
its power," thus leaving France free to settle the disposition 
of her Mediterranean fleet. 

A short time before the crisis became serious the British 
fleet had been mobilized for a grand review at Spithead ; 
on July 24th the First Lord of the Admiralty, Mr. Churchill, 
on his own initiative ordered the postponement of its 
demobilization. And on August 3rd, the day after Sir 
Edward Grey had given his assurance to France, the com- 
plete mobilization of the British fleet took place. 
Meanwhile, on the evening of August 2nd, Germany sent 
an ultimatum to Belgium threatening that if she did not 
allow the German arms a free passage through her territory 
Germany would treat her as an enemy. She fixed twelve 
hours for a reply. 

This phase of the origin of the participation of Great Britain 
in the war is dealt with more fully in the next chapter ; here 
it is sufficient to say that the ultimatum was treated with 
scorn by Belgium, and that next day Belgian territory was 
invaded. 

The result in Great Britain was that on this day, August 4th, 
an ultimatum was sent to Germany, and the entire mobiliza- 
30 



THE CAUSES OF THE WAR 

I tion of the army ordered. By eleven o'clock that night 

ij Great Britain and Germany were at war. 

I The mobilization of the army proceeded with the utmost 

I rapidity. Since the Morocco crisis of 1906 an expeditionary 
force of six divisions of infantry, four brigades of cavalry, 
ten batteries of horse artillery, and sixty-three batteries of 
field artillery, numbering in all about 150,000 men, had been 
kept in readiness for service abroad. In a very few days the 
vanguard of this force embarked from England, and by 
August 17th the whole, and more, was in northern France. 

Underlying Causes 

We have now traced the course of events from the firing of 
the fatal shot at Serajevo to the appearance of the nations 
of Europe on the battle-field, in the full panoply of war. 
It remains to us to hark back for some years and look into 
the underlying causes of the conflagration. 
The inspiration of the murder of the Archduke Ferdinand was 
the feeling of hostility toward Austria that was widely enter- 
tained in Serbia. Bosnia, in the capital of which, it will be 
remembered, the crime was perpetrated, was a part of the 
ancient kingdom of Serbia. The bulk of its people are of 
Slavic origin and speak the Serbian language, and Serbia 
was eager to regain it as a possible outlet on the Adriatic. 
When, therefore, in 1908, Austria annexed Bosnia and 
Herzegovina, which had been under her military control for 
thirty years, the indignation in Serbia was great. While 
it had died down in a measure in the subsequent years, the 
feeling of injury survived in many hearts, and the assassina- 
tion of the Archduke Ferdinand was, broadly speaking, a 
result of this pervading sentiment. 

It soon became evident that the military party in Austria 
was seeking to manufacture a popular demand for war, 
based on the assassination ; but that the murder of the 
Archduke was the real cause of the Austrian action no one 

31 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

could accept, especially in view of Serbia's extreme readiness 
to accede to the rigid demands of Austria. The actual 
cause was undoubtedly a deeper one, that of the Teuton's 
long-cherished purpose of dominating Europe, and, as an 
important means to this end, of gaining a foothold on the 
^gean Sea, for which the possession of Serbia was neces- 
sary as a preliminary step. By ' the Teutons ' we mean, of 
course, the German and Austrian empires ; and the two, in 
this connection, were very much in the positions of the 
artisan and his tool, Austria being the tool. 
The Balkan States, of which Serbia is a prominent member, 
lie in a direct line between Europe and the Orient. A Great 
Power occupying the whole of the Balkan peninsula would 
possess political advantages far beyond those enjoyed 
either by Austria-Hungary or by the German empire as it 
is to-day. It would be in a position giving it great influence 
over, if not strategic control of, the Suez Canal, the com- 
merce of the Mediterranean, and a possible all-rail route 
between Central Europe and the Far East. Salonika, on 
the ^gean Sea, since the Treaty of Bukarest in 1913 in 
Greek territory, is one of the finest harbours on the Medi- 
terranean. A railway through Serbia connects this port 
with Austria and Germany, and it was not unlikely that in 
the near future a canal might connect the Danube with the 
harbour of Salonika. If this project should be carried out, 
the commerce of the Danube and its tributary streams and 
canals, even that of Central and Western Germany, would 
be able to reach the Mediterranean without passing through 
the perilous Iron Gates of the Danube, or being subjected 
to the delays and dangers incident to the long passage 
through the Black Sea and the Grecian Archipelago. 
We can see in all this a powerful motive for an alliance of 
the two central empires to seek to gain possession of Serbia. 
The commercial and manufacturing interests of Austria- 
Hungary were growing; but Germany regarded herself as 
o2 





« 1 
w s 

§ I 

tt -§ 
S ^ 

I— I s; 

w - 

-a 
Q § 

SI 



THE CAUSES OF THE WAR 

being almost in the position of heir-apparent to her dominions, 
and mastership of such a route to the Mediterranean would 
mean an immense advantage to this ambitious empire. 
Possession of northern Italy once gave Austria the advantage 
of an important outlet to the Mediterranean. This, through 
events that will be spoken of in later chapters, was lost 
to her, aiv d ever since it had been in her mind to reach 
it by a more direct and open road, that leading through 
Salonika. 

For the moment we will leave the consideration of what 
else Germany was to gain from the war, for she was playing 
for higher stakes even than the masterj'^ of the ^Egean, with 
all that that means, and continue our story of the actual 
outbreak. 

A plausible motive for the Teutonic seizure of Serbia was 
needed, any pretext that would serve as a satisfactory 
excuse to Europe and that could at the same time be utilized 
in developing Austrian indignation against the Serbians. The 
excuse came in the assassination; the Austrian war party, 
as we have seen, contended that the deed was planned at 
Belgrade, that it had been fomented by Serbian officials, 
and that these had supplied the murderer with explosives 
and aided in their transfer into Bosnia. While it is not 
likely that there was any actual evidence for this, the case 
was one that called for investigation, and Austria was 
plainly within its rights in demanding such an inquiry and 
the due punishment of every one proved to have been 
connected with the tragic deed ; but she had no right to go 
further than this and to demand of Serbia what amounted 
to the relinquishment of her sovereign rights. 
It is perfectly certain, however Germany may protest to 
the contrary, that in pressing Serbia in this way Austria 
knew both that she had the full support of Germany and 
that she was imperilling the peace of Europe. The news- 
papers in her own capital of Vienna were clear on these 

c 33 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

points ; one of them said that the pohcies of Germany and 
Austria " move along the same road," while in the Pester 
Lloyd appeared a statement to the effect that the remotest 
consequences of the ultimatum had been fully thought out, 
and that the Dual Monarchy was ready to meet them all, 
arms in hand. 

That the intention of this imperious demand was to force 
a war, no one can doubt. Serbia's nearly complete assent 
to the conditions imposed was declared to be not only un- 
satisfactory, but also ' dishonourable,' a word doubtless 
deliberately used. Evidently no door was to be left open 
by which she could escape. 

But what brought Germany, what brought France, what 
brought practically the whole of Europe into the struggle ? 
What caused it to grow with startling suddenness from a 
minor into a major conflict, from a contest between a dachs- 
hund and a terrier into a battle between lions ? What were 
the unseen and unnoted conditions that, within the space of 
little more than one week, induced all the leading nations 
of Europe to spring full-armed into the arena, bent upon a 
struggle which threatened to surpass any that the world had 
ever seen ? All Europe appeared to be sitting, knowingly or 
unknowingly, upon a powder-barrel which only needed some 
inconsequent hand to apply the match, and at first sight it 
seems incredible that the mere pulling of a trigger by a 
Serbian student and the slaying of an archduke in a remote 
capital could in a month's time have plunged all Europe 
into war. 

We cannot hope to point out all the varied causes which 
were at work in this vast event ; we must restrict ourselves 
to the most important. 

The Triple Alliance and Triple Entente 

And first, we must refer to the two great divisions into which, 

so far as the Great Powers are concerned, Europe has been 

34 



THE CAUSES OF THE WAR 

split up for some years, namely, the ' Triple Alliance ' and 
the ' Triple Entente.' 

The Triple Alliance first appears as a Dual Alliance in 1879, 
when Bismarck concluded between Germany and Austria- 
Hungary a defensive treaty against Russia. In 1882 this 
was turned into the Triple Alliance as it existed at the 
outbreak of the Great War by the addition of Italy, which 
at that time was in a state of isolation in Europe. Thus 
a solid block of Powers was set up in Central Europe, forming 
an insuperable barrier to any joining of the French and 
Russian forces. 

In somewhat similar fashion the Triple Entente — or Under- 
standing — arose. This was not precisely an alliance in the 
sense of that just spoken of, but — in Sir Edward Grey's 
phrase — a ' diplomatic group ' ; though so far as France 
and Russia were concerned it had been since 1896 a strict 
alliance in every sense of the term. Great Britain came 
into touch with this in 1904, when, largely through the 
personal endeavours of King Edward VII, she entered into 
a convention with France, principally on matters concerning 
Egypt and Morocco. 

In Germany this Anglo-French Agreement was viewed with 
great misgiving and was a decided check on her foreign policy, 
which for many years had been largely concerned with 
keeping France and England apart. Germany thought it 
to be conceived in a spirit hostile to her, but this view was 
certainly erroneous. " The origin of the Entente," says Lord 
Cromer, "is to be found in the fact that both nations 
simultaneously appreciated the danger lest the frequent 
bickerings which occurred in Egypt and elsewhere might 
sooner or later seriously imperil their own friendly relations." 
In 1907 Great Britain made a similar convention with 
Russia respecting Persia, Afghanistan, and Tibet, and the 
Triple Entente may be said to have become complete. On 
September 4th, 1914, it was carried a step further, however, 

35 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

for on that date the three Powers mutually engaged " not 
to conclude peace separately during the present war," and 
further, that " when terms of peace come to be discussed, 
no one of the Allies will demand terms of peace without 
the previous agreement of each of the other Allies." 

Germany's Complicity 

Allusion has already been made to the fact that Austria 
could not have acted as she did in her treatment of Serbia 
without the assurance of Germany's support, and, we may 
add, without her direct instigation. It is true that Germany 
has again and again denied that she had any knowledge of 
the Austrian ultimatum before it was presented. But the 
statement is on the face of it most improbable, it will not 
bear the most superficial examination, and it is safe to say 
that nobody outside Germany has ever put the slightest 
faith in it. When telegraphing to Sir Edward Grey on 
July 30th, the British ambassador said that he had private 
information that the German ambassador knew the text of 
the Austrian ultimatum to Serbia before it was dispatched and 
telegraphed it to the Kaiser. He added that the German 
ambassador himself endorsed every line of it. Further than 
this, in his long dispatch dated September 1st, he said : 
" The delivery at Belgrade on the 23rd July of the Austrian 
note to Serbia was preceded by a period of absolute silence 
at the Ballplatz. Except the German ambassador, who 
must have been aware of the tenor, if not of the actual 
words, of the Note, none of my colleagues was allowed to see 
through the veil." These words are very suggestive. 
Beyond this it must be remembered that as Austria was the 
weaker of the two allies she could not have proceeded to 
the lengths she did without the support of Germany ; and 
indeed in the German official papers there is a direct admission 
that she was consulted by Austria previous to the ultimatum. 
She records her answer as follows : " We were able to assure 
36 




ISI 



■ ^'fy' 



i 



THE CAUSES OF THE WAR 

our ally most heartily of our agreement with her view of 
the situation, and to assure her that any action that she 
might consider it necessary to take in order to put an end 
to the movement in Serbia directed against the existence 
of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy would receive our 
approval. We were fully aware in this connection that 
warlike moves on the part of Austria-Hungary against 
Serbia would bring Russia into the question, and might 
draw us into a war in accordance with our duties as 
an ally. 

" We could not, however, in these vital interests of Austria- 
Hungary which were at stake, advise our ally to take a 
yielding attitude not compatible with her dignity, nor deny 
her our assistance in these trying days. We could do this 
all the less as our own interests were menaced. . . . We, 
therefore, permitted Austria a completely free hand in her 
action toward Serbia." 

These extracts will be enough to show at least the probability 
of Germany's pre-knowledge of the ultimatum, and are at 
least proof that she gave her ally carte blanche. 
Austria well knew that she was not strong enough, single- 
handed, to withstand the onslaught of the Russian bear, 
which, as certainly as the night the day, would follow her 
meditated attack on ' the little Slav brother ' ; she knew, 
too, that there were certain very strong reasons over and 
above treaty obligations (which do not weigh very strongly 
with Germany) that would bring her powerful ally to her 
side. Let us now see what those reasons were. 
In 1870-1 two very important events happened in Europe : 
the first and less important (which is treated fully in a later 
chapter) was the crushing of France by Prussia. The second 
was the formation of the German empire, a union of the 
states of the mid-European territory which, in Prince von 
Billow's weighty words, " so long prevented, so often feared, 
and at last accomplished by the force of German arms and 

37 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

incomparable statesmanship, seemed to imply something of 
the nature of a threat, or at any rate to be a disturbing factor." 
The new empire was at first given anything but a hearty 
welcome by the European family ; but from the day of her 
birth she grew with astonishing rapidity in wealth, in 
population, in honour among the nations, and in fact in every 
direction except in that of territory. For some years this 
was not a matter of great importance ; and Bismarck, who 
was averse to seeing his country entangled in foreign 
disputes, was quite content when France, instead of occupy- 
ing herself with schemes and projects to upset the Treaty 
of Frankfort and regain possession of her lost provinces of 
Alsace and Lorraine, was using her wonderful recrudescence 
of energy in snapping up and colonizing the best parts of 
northern Africa that were then unoccupied. 

Kaiser Wilhelm II 

But soon after 1888, when Kaiser Wilhelm II, whose character 
is a neurotic mixture of megalomania and ambition, came to 
the throne, a decided change took place. The Iron Chan- 
cellor, who had grown grey in the service of his grandfather, 
was dismissed by the headstrong young emperor, and, as 
has been well said, " in the sphere of foreign policy his loss 
was irreparable." For eight years the vast wealth of his 
experience, with which that of no living European statesman 
could compare, lay idle and unused. 

Wilhelm II' s foreign policy and his bitter chagrin at not 
being able to find a suitable ' place in the sun ' for his over- 
grown country are more fully treated in a later chapter ; 
here it is sufficient to say that it was largely his unsatisfied 
desire for dominion, his unfulfilled lust of world-power, that 
led him to challenge the world in arms and to drag his 
Austrian ally with him. For, in spite of the fact that it 
was Austria that set light to the powder-barrel whose 
explosion caused such widespread havoc throughout Europe, 
38 



THE CAUSES OF THE WAR 

there is no shadow of doubt that it was Germany that struck 
the match. 

Neutrality of Italy 

We have already spoken of the joint Germano- Austrian 
reasons for wishing to disturb the peace of Europe, and have 
mentioned that both countries knowingly used Serbia as 
a means to their end. It is of interest to note here that 
early in December, 1914, it was announced in the Italian 
Chamber by Signor Giolitti that so long ago as the middle 
of 1913 Austria was contemplating an attack on Serbia, 
and that she sounded Signor Giolitti (who was then Prime 
Minister) on the matter. Giolitti refused to take action 
with her ally, and for the time the subject was dropped ; 
but the incident is doubly significant, for in the first place 
it is one more link in the chain of evidence that proves 
that the Serajevo assassination was indeed nothing more 
than a pretext ; and in the second place it supplies 
the answer to the question, " Why did not Austria and 
Germany take their third ally, Italy, into their confidence 
when they were planning their ultimatum to Serbia ? " 
Thus, when the war came the Teutons were fully aware that 
they could not count on any assistance from Italy ; but this 
knowledge did not disturb them overmuch, as they seem 
almost to the last to have taken it for granted that Great 
Britain would stand aside and watch while they defeated 
first France and then Russia. 

Quite apart from Austria, Germany had reasons of her own 
for plunging into war, and these reasons were all bound up 
with that hunger for world-power that we have already 
mentioned. 

Germany's Inner Purpose 

Germany's purpose was that of establishing beyond question 
her political and military supremacy in Europe. Military 

39 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

despotism in Germany was the decisive factor in making 
inevitable the general war. The Kaiser stood as the in- 
carnation and exponent of the Prussian policy of military 
autocracy. He had ruled all German states in unwavering 
obedience to the militarist maxim : "In times of peace 
prepare for war." He had used to the full his autocratic 
power in building up the German empire and in making it 
not only a marvel of industrial efficiency, but also a stu- 
pendous military machine. In this effort he had burdened 
the people of Germany with an ever-increasing war budget. 
The limit in this direction was reached in 1912, when the 
revenues of the princes and of all citizens of wealth were 
specially taxed. No new sources of revenue remained. A 
crisis had come. 

That crisis, which led to such tremendous results, was not 
any menace from Britain, nor, primarily, any fear of the 
British power. It was rather, as will be seen in Chapter IV, 
the very real and very rapidly rising threat of the new great 
Slav power on Germany's border. 

Recent events, especially in the Balkan wars, had made it 
plain, not to the German Emperor alone, but to all the world, 
that the growth into an organized Power of more than two 
hundred millions of Slavs along nearly three thousand miles 
of international frontier was a menace to the preservation 
of Teuton supremacy in Europe. That Teuton supremacy 
was based on the sword. The German official papers, 
published in the very early days of the war, show clearly 
that the aim of the two empires was really directed at 
Russia, though the blow was to be struck through Serbia ; 
it was the firm purpose of the Teutonic Powers to bring 
about for ever and irrevocably the definite abandonment 
of Russia's traditional claim to the guardianship of the Slav 
race. 

But this, though in itself a mighty undertaking, was only 
a means to the general end of Germany's statecraft. The 
40 



THE CAUSES OF THE WAR 

Lokalanzeiger gave away Germany's case when it said that 
her object was to take her stand as the mightiest nation, 
which would at last be in the position to give to the world, 
" with that moderation and forbearance " that are its own, 
such peace and prosperity as it chooses that others should 
enjoy. It was this same semi-official journal, it may be 
noted, that described as fruitless any possible appeals that 
Serbia might make to "St Petersburg, Paris, Athens, or 
Bukarest." 

And to attain this end it was not enough that the wardship 
of the Slav races should be wrested from the hand of Russia, 
however bitter a humiliation this would be to the northern 
empire. There was an even more powerful empire standing 
in the way of Germany's ambitions — the British. 
From a study of the diplomatic papers of the various nations 
it becomes more and more evident that in the early stages 
of the controversy it was Germany's main object to isolate 
Great Britain ; it will be brought out more fully below 
how she did her utmost to induce her to take up a position 
of neutrality ; it is sufficient here to say that for very ex- 
cellent reasons this endeavour failed, and that in consequence 
of the failure Germany found herself with rather more on 
her hands than she had hoped for, though, thanks to her 
far-seeing militarist policy, she was prepared even for this. 
Territorial aggrandisement in Europe itself was also doubtless 
in Germany's mind when she went to war. The memory 
of how she acquired Schleswig-Holstein — not to mention 
Alsace-Lorraine — is still fresh in the minds of many still 
living ; and there was apparently no reason why she should 
not by similar methods obtain possession of Holland and 
Belgium, countries which would obviously be of even greater 
value to her than either of the others. Belgium and Holland 
lay between her and the coasts of England, and the in- 
corporation of these two countries would, with their splendid 
ports, pay her well for a reasonable degree of risk and cost. 

41 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

The invasion of Belgium as her first move in the war, besides 
providing her with the best means of attacking France, may 
very Hkely have had an ulterior purpose in the acquisition 
of a country which would give her an even greater 
hold over France than did that of Alsace-Lorraine. The 
neutral position taken up by Holland is to be explained by 
the terrible situation in which she found herself placed, 
with the menace of a German army upon her frontier. There 
is little doubt, however, that she fully realized that the 
annexation of Belgium by Germany would lead in due course 
to the loss of her own independence. Indeed, there is on 
record the statement of the German Chancellor that Belgium 
would be useless to Germany without at least a portion of 
Dutch territory. 

Russia's Part in the Cataclysm 

In this survey of the causes of the Great War the position 
of Russia comes next. In Chapter IV will be found an 
account of Pan-Slavism versus Pan-Germanism, and here 
we will point out that Russia was the first to follow Austria 
and begin mobilization. We have already seen what brought 
her into the field, and how impossible it was for her to accede 
to Germany's demand that she should demobilize. Russia 
had already suffered one bitter humiliation at the hands of 
the Teutons in connection with her Slav policy ; not many 
years before, when Austria annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina, 
Russia protested against the act. She would doubtless have 
done more than protest but for her financial and military 
weakness, arising from the then recent Russo-Japanese War. 
In 1914 she was much stronger in both these elements of 
national power, and lost not a day in preparing to march 
to Serbia's aid. 

There were many, however, who were not ready to credit 
the Russian bear with an act of pure benevolence — a war of 
pure charity is sufficiently rare to make one slightly sus- 
42 



THE CAUSES OF THE WAR 

picious — and, as it has been suggested that Germany saw in 
the war a possible opportunity to gain a frontier on the 
Atlantic, so it was hinted that Russia had in mind a similar 
frontier on the Mediterranean. Time and again she had 
sought to wring Constantinople from the hands of the Turk. 
In 1877 she was on the point of achieving this purpose when 
she was turned back by the Congress of Berlin. Here was 
another and seemingly a much better opportunity. 
The Balkan War had almost accomplished the conquest of 
the great Turkish capital and left Turkey in a state of 
serious weakness. If Europe should be thrown into the 
throes of a general war, in which every nation would have 
its own interests to care for, Russia's opportunity to seize 
upon the prize for which she had so long sought was an 
excellent one, there being no one in a position to say her nay. 
To Russia the possession of Constantinople would be like the 
possession of a new world, and this may well have been a 
contributory cause to her springing without hesitation into 
the war. 

France 

The Republic of France was less hasty than Austria and 
Germany in issuing a declaration of war. Yet there, too, 
the order of mobilization was quickly issued, as indeed was 
necessary in view of her treaty obligations, and to preserve 
her existence as a Great Power. And although the intense 
hatred of Germany that for so many years after the events 
of 1870-1 occupied every French bosom had to a large 
extent sunk beneath the surface, the feeling of revanche was 
there, and was kept vitally alive by the fact that Alsace 
and Lorraine, which even yet possessed a considerable 
French population, still formed part of the German dominions. 
We may reasonably believe that the possibility of regaining 
this lost territory made France eager to take part in the 
coming war. She had been despoiled by Germany, a valued 

43 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

portion of her territory had been wrested from her grasp — 
a promising chance of regaining it lay before her. She had 
the men ; she had the arms ; she had the memory of her 
former triumphs over the now aUied nations of Austria 
and Germany ; she had her obhgations to Russia as a 
further inducement ; and, in spite of the recent damaging 
disclosures in the Chamber, she had a military organization 
vastly superior to that of 1870. 



44 




p 
w a; 

al 

Si 



-^ 



CHAPTER III 

THE CAUSE OF GREAT BRITAIN'S 

PARTICIPATION 

The Neutrality of Belgium : Germany and Belgium 
in 1911 and 1913 ; Germany^s Change in 1914 ; 
Some Prophecies fulfilled : One Excuse for Invasion 
of Belgium : Another Excuse : The Declaration of 
War : Germany^ s bid for British Neutrality : Luxem- 
burg : Delivery of the British Ultimatum : ' A Scrap 
of Paper ^ : The Last Word : Japan : Turkey : 
Possible Additions to the Nations at War 
WE now come to deal with the cause of the participation 
of Great Britain in the conflict. 

We have suggested that in the case aUke of Austria and 
Germany, and possibly in that of France and Russia as well, 
the hope of gaining valuable acquisitions of territory was 
entertained. In the case of France, enmity to Germany was 
an added motive, the territory she might hope to gain being 
land of which she had been formerly despoiled. These pur- 
poses of changing the map of Europe did not apply to or 
influence Great Britain, who had no territory to gain and 
no great military organization to exercise. She possessed the 
most powerful navy of any country in the world, but she was 
moved by no desire of showing her strength upon the sea. 
There was no reason, so far as any positive advantage to 
herself was concerned, for her taking part in the war, and 
her first steps, as we have seen, were all generously directed 
toward mediation between the Powers in arms. 
Only when Belgium — a small nation that was in a sense 
under the guardianship of Great Britain, so far as its nation- 
ality and neutrality were concerned — was invaded by Ger- 
many, did Britain feel it incumbent upon her to take part 
in the war as a belligerent. We have already seen in an 
earlier part of this chapter how necessary it was, quite apart 
from the question of the neutrality of Belgium, for Great 

45 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

Britain to intervene. It was of the utmost importance to 
her that the balance of power in Europe should not be dis- ! 
turbed and that France should not be beaten to her knees \ 
by Germany; but since the matter of the neutrality of 
Belgium was ' the last straw,' it will be as well if we look 
into it somewhat fully. 

The Neutrality of Belgium 

So long ago as November, 1831, at the time of the separation 

of Belgium from Holland, a treaty was signed in London 

between Great Britain, Austria, France, Prussia, Russia, 

and Belgium, one of the articles of which laid down that 

Belgium should form an independent and perpetually neutral 

state. 

Owing to the state of affairs in the Netherlands at the time 
(see Chapter XI) this treaty was not signed by Holland, but 
in April, 1839, another treaty, to which Holland was a party, 
and which included a clause to precisely the same effect, 
was signed, again in London. 

This, as Sir Edward Grey said, is the governing factor, but 
it is a treaty with a history— a history accumulated since. 
At the time of the Franco-Prussian War the question of the 
neutrality of Belgium arose, and Bismarck gave an assurance 
—which he said was superfluous in reference to the treaty 
in existence— that the German Confederation and its alhes 
would respect this neutrality. Great Britain entered into 
new treaties with both France and Germany on this point, 
and each treaty ended with a clause to the effect that on 
the expiration of twelve months after a treaty of peace 
between the belligerents the independence and neutrality of 
Belgium will continue to rest as heretofore on the treatv 
of 1839. 

To come down to our own day, on July 3] st, when mobiliza- 
tion for the Great War was at its very beginning, Sir Edward 
Grey, knowing that this question must be a most important 
46 



GREAT BRITAIN'S PARTICIPATION 

element in the British poHcy, telegraphed to Paris and Berlin 
to say that it was essential for Great Britain to know whether 
the French and German Governments respectively were 
prepared to undertake an engagement to respect the neu- 
trality of Belgium. From the French Government came 
this reply : 

" The French Government are resolved to respect the 
neutrality of Belgium, and it would only be in the event of 
some other Power violating that neutrality that France 
might find herself under the necessity, in order to assure 
the defence of her security, to act otherwise. This assurance 
has been given several times. The President of the Republic 
spoke of it to the King of the Belgians, and the French 
minister at Brussels has spontaneously renewed the assurance 
to the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs to-day." 
From the German Government the reply was : 
" The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs could not 
possibly give an answer before consulting the Emperor and 
the Imperial Chancellor." 

At the same time the German Minister for Foreign Affair 
gave the British ambassador to understand that he rather 
doubted whether they could answer at all, as any reply 
they might give could not fail, in the event of war, to have 
the undesirable effect of disclosing to a certain extent part 
of their plan of campaign. 

This statement in itself is very ominous, but the full depth 
of its duplicity does not appear until we contrast it with the 
statement of Germany's accredited representative at Brussels 
on the same day. 

In the course of a conversation which Baron van der Elst, 
the Secretary of the Belgian Foreign Department, had with 
Herr von Biilow, the German minister, that morning, he 
explained to the German minister the scope of the military 
measures that Belgium had taken, and told him that they 
were a consequence of her desire to fulfil her international 

4>7 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

obligations, and that they in no wise imphed an attitude of 
distrust toward her neighbours. 

Germany and Belgium in 1911 and 1913 
The Secretary- General then asked the German minister if 
he knew of the conversation which he had had with his 
predecessor, Herr von Flotow, and of the reply which the 
Imperial Chancellor had instructed the latter to give. 
In the course of the controversy which arose in 1911 as a 
consequence of the Dutch scheme for the fortification of 
Flushing, certain newspapers had maintained that in the 
case of a Franco-German war Belgian neutrality would be 
violated by Germany. The Belgian Department of Foreign 
Affairs had suggested that a declaration in the German 
parliament would serve to calm public opinion, and to dispel 
the mistrust which was so regrettable from the point of view 
of the relations between the two countries. 
Herr von Bethmann-Hollweg replied that he had fully 
appreciated the feelings which had inspired the Belgian 
representations. He declared that Germany had no intention 
of violating Belgian neutrality, but he considered that in 
making a public declaration Germany would weaken her 
military position in regard to France, who, secured on the 
northern side, would concentrate all her energies on the east. 
Baron van der Elst, continuing, said that he perfectly 
understood the objections raised by Herr von Bethmann- 
Hollweg to the proposed public declaration, and he recalled 
the fact that since then, in 1913, Herr von Jagow had re- 
assured the Budget Commission of the Reichstag respecting 
the maintenance of Belgian neutrality. 
On July 31st, 1914, Herr von Biilow admitted that he knew 
of this conversation, and said he was certain that the senti- 
ments expressed at that time had not changed. 
The declarations referred to above were made both by Herr 
von Jagow and the Minister of War on April 29th, 1913. 
48 



GREAT BRITAIN'S PARTICIPATION 

The following is a translation of the account published in 

the semi-official Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung : 

" A member of the Social Democrat party said : ' The 

approach of a war between Germany and France is viewed 

with apprehension in Belgium, for it is feared that Germany 

will not respect the neutrality of Belgium.' 

" Herr von Jagow, Secretary of State, replied : ' Belgian 

neutrality is provided for by international conventions and 

Germany is determined to respect those conventions.^ 

" This declaration did not satisfy another member of the 

Social Democrat party. Herr von Jagow said that he had 

nothing to add to the clear statement he had made respecting 

the relations between Germany and Belgium. 

" In answer to fresh inquiries by a member of the Social 

Democrat party, Herr von Heeringen, the Minister of War, 

replied : ' Belgium plays no part in the causes which justify 

the proposed reorganization of the German military system. 

That proposal is based on the situation in the East. Germany 

will not lose sight of the fact that the neutrality of Belgium is 

guaranteed by international treaty.'' 

" A member of the Progressive party having once again 

spoken of Belgium, Herr von Jagow repeated that this 

declaration in regard to Belgium was sufficiently clear." 

Germany's Change in 1914 

Let us contrast these sentences with the following from the 
speech of Chancellor von Bethmann-Hollweg in the Reichstag 
on August 4th : 

" Gentlemen," he said, " we are now in a position of neces- 
sity ; and necessity knows no law. Our troops have 
occupied Luxemburg ; perhaps they have already entered 
Belgian territory. Gentlemen, this is in contradiction to 
the rules of international law. We were forced to set aside 
the just protests of the Luxemburg and Belgian Governments. 
The wrong — I speak openly — the wrong that we now do 

D 49 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

we will try to make good again as soon as our military ends 
have been reached. When one is threatened as we are, 
and all is at stake, he can only think of how he can hack 
his way through." 
Comment is needless. 

The most charitable deduction to make is that the higher 
German authorities would not trust even their own repre- 
sentatives ; but while it is evident that these higher au- 
thorities had, all along, intended to betray the country that 
they had so clearly promised to defend, it was necessary that 
they should be ready with some excuse that could be put 
forward to justify them in the eyes of the civilized world. 

Some Prophecies fulfilled 

In a remarkable article published in the Spectator of Feb- 
ruary 14th, 1914, Lord Cromer, after pointing out that the 
Franco-Prussian War was planned by Bismarck in order to 
secure the unification of Germany, remarks : " With a wide 
experience of the past before us, we cannot feel any very 
strong assurance that the incidents of German internal 
policy will not again necessitate an attack on some foreign 
Power. Should that necessity arise, it cannot be doubted 
that an adroit diplomacy could and would manufacture 
occurrences tending to show that the war was forced on the 
reluctant and peace-loving population of Germany." 
What followed with regard to Belgium is only one of the 
many proofs of the entire correctness of this prophecy, 
furnished by the opening moves in the Great War ; and in 
passing we may be allowed to refer to another remarkable 
prophecy. 

So long ago as January, 1913, Frederic Harrison, in the 
English Review, wrote an article on the new era opened by 
the close of the Balkan wars and dealing mainly with its 
effects on and through the Teutonic empires. In the course 
of that article he said ; " The far more imminent risk is 
50 



GREAT BRITAIN'S PARTICIPATION 

that Belgium, northern France, Holland, either one or all, 
may be the object of assault ; or in the case of the Low 
Countries, of practical control without actual war. We 
know that systematic preparation for this has long been 
made. . . . Now, even the ' control ' of any parts of Belgium 
and of Holland — obtained by diplomacy or extorted by 
pressure— would be so formidable a menace to France that 
she could not submit to it without a strenuous effort. Could 
England submit to it, or refuse to join her efforts with 
France ; and much more so if annexation or complete 
alliance were in question, rather than ' control ' ? " 
Such words from such quarters, and many similar prophecies 
that might be given, were surely warning enough to those that 
had ears to hear that all was not well in Europe and that a 
day of reckoning was at hand ! 

One Excuse for Invasion of Belgium 
The ' occurrence ' foretold by Lord Cromer was a French 
invasion of Belgium, having for its object an attack on 
Germany. France, it will be remembered, had, in contra- 
distinction to Germany, at once replied to the inquiry of 
Great Britain to the effect that in all events she would 
respect Belgium's neutrality ; and there is conclusive 
evidence to prove that she had done so. 

The information concerning this ' invasion ' was conveyed 
to the Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs in a Note pre- 
sented to him by the German minister at Brussels on 
August 2nd. We give the answer (dated August 3rd, 7 a.m.) 
as that contains also a precis of the German Note : 
" The German Government stated in their Note of the 
2nd August, 1914, that according to reliable information 
French forces intended to march on the Meuse via Givet 
and Namur, and that Belgium, in spite of the best intentions, 
would not be in a position to repulse, without assistance, 
an advance of French troops. 

51 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 
" The German Government, therefore, consider themselves 
compelled to anticipate this attack and to violate Belgian 
territory. In these circumstances, Germany proposed to 
the Belgian Government to adopt a friendly attitude toward 
her, and undertook, on the conclusion of peace, to guarantee 
the integrity of the kingdom and its possessions to their 
full extent. The Note added that if Belgium put difficulties 
in the way of the advance of German troops, Germany would 
be compelled to consider her as an enemy, and to leave the 
ultimate adjustment of the relations between the two states 
to the decision of arms. 

" This Note has made a deep and painful impression upon 
the Belgian Government. 

" The intentions attributed to France by Germany are in 
contradiction to the formal declarations made to us on 
August 1st, in the name of the French Government. 
" Moreover, if, contrary to our expectation, Belgian neu- 
trality should be violated by France, Belgium intends to 
fulfil her international obligations and the Belgian army 
would offer the most vigorous resistance to the invader. 
" The treaties of 1839, confirmed by the treaties of 1870, 
vouch for the independence and neutrality of Belgium under 
the guarantee of the Powers, and notably of the Government 
of His Majesty the King of Prussia. 

" Belgium has always been faithful to her international 
obligations, she has carried out her duties in a spirit of loyal 
impartiality, and she has left nothing undone to maintain 
and enforce respect for her neutrality. 

" The attack upon her independence with which the German 
Government threaten her constitutes a flagrant violation of 
international law. No strategic interest justifies such a 
violation of law. 

" The Belgian Government, if they were to accept the 
proposals submitted to them, would sacrifice the honour of 
the nation and betray their duty toward Europe. 
52 




W 

< 
<l 

w . 

O ^ 
h:r .,- 

^ I 

K^ I 

P 2 

M ^ 
< ■», 

W I 

(In 
O 

o 

M 

H 

H 
m 
W 
Q 



GREAT BRITAIN'S PARTICIPATION 

" Conscious of the part which Belgium has played for more 
than eighty years in the civilization of the world, they refuse 
to believe that the independence of Belgium can only be 
preserved at the price of the violation of her neutrality. 
" If this hope is disappointed the Belgian Government are 
firmly resolved to repel, by all the means in their power, 
every attack upon their rights. 

" DAVIGNON." 
{Belgian Minister for Foreign Affairs.) 

Another Excuse 

Even in such an important matter as this, however, the 
Germans would not allow their right hand to know what 
their left was doing. If we are to believe Herr von Jagow, 
the German Secretary of State, he was in entire ignorance 
of this ' invasion.' It surely shows very great lack of 
confidence that he, the most important official of them all, 
should have been left so completely in the dark ; but let 
us hear his own account of why his people violated Belgian 
neutrality. 

In speaking to Sir Edward Goschen, the British ambassador 
at Berlin, on the matter on August 4th, he went into the 
reasons why the Imperial Government had been obliged to 
take this step, and said that they had to advance into France 
by the quickest and easiest way, so as to be able to get well 
ahead with their operations and strike some decisive blow 
as early as possible. It was " a matter of life and death," he 
went on, " as if they had gone by the more southern route 
they could not have hoped, in view of the paucity of roads 
and the strength of the fortresses, to have got through 
without formidable opposition, entailing great loss of time. 
This loss of time would have meant time gained by the 
Russians for bringing up their troops to the German frontier. 
Rapidity of action was the great German asset." Sir Edward 
pointed out that this fait accompli of the violation of the 

53 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

Belgian frontier rendered the situation exceedingly grave, 
and asked the Secretary of State whether there was not still 
time to draw back and avoid possible consequences which 
both would deplore. Herr von Jagow replied that, for the 
reasons he had given, it was now impossible to draw back. 
If anything were needed to prove that this story of a violation 
of Belgian territory by France was what the French Premier, 
M. Viviani, stigmatized as a " lying pretext " this is surely 
enough ; for it is quite inconceivable that, had it occurred, 
Herr von Jagow would not have been the first to have been 
apprised of it ; and it is still more inconceivable that he 
would have concealed so excellent an excuse from the 
British ambassador. 

The Declaration of War 

On the day after the receipt of M. Davignon's letter (given 
above) by Germany, Germany declared war on Belgium. 
This was immediately followed by an ultimatum from Great 
Britain protesting against Germany's action, and asking her 
for a declaration that she would respect Belgium's neutrality, 
similar to that given by France, which declaration was to 
be in the hands of Great Britain by 12 o'clock that night. No 
answer was received : and war was in consequence declared. 

Germany's Bid for British Neutrality 

Here it will be as well to be reminded that the Teutonic 

empires, particularly Germany, had all along been taking it 

for granted that Russia would climb down, that France was 

a negligible quantity, and that Great Britain, particularly 

in view of her own domestic difficulties and the threatened 

outbreak of a serious rebellion in Ireland, would stand aside 

altogether. 

By July 29th, however, Germany saw that there was at 

least a possibility of her having made a mistake, and on that 

day made her first bid for British neutrality. The Chancellor 

54 



GREAT BRITAIN'S PARTICIPATION 

told the British ambassador that he was fully aware that 
Great Britain would never stand by and allow France to 
be crushed, and added that that was not the object at 
which Germany aimed. " Provided that neutrality of Great 
Britain were certain," he went on, " every assurance would be 
given that the Imperial Government aimed at no territorial 
acquisitions at the expense of France." 

When questioned about the French colonies, the Chancellor 
said that he was unable to give a similar undertaking in that 
respect. As regards Holland, however, His Excellency said 
that so long as Germany's adversaries respected the integrity 
and neutrality of the Netherlands, Germany was ready to 
give an assurance that she would do likewise. " It depended 
upon the action of France what operations Germany might 
be forced to enter upon in Belgium, but when the war was 
over, Belgian integrity would be respected if she had not 
sided against Germany." 

On that day, too. Sir Edward Grey gave Germany very 
distinctly to understand that Great Britain could not remain 
indifferent if France were drawn into a war, and on the 
following day he sent an emphatic reply to Germany's bid 
for neutrality commencing with the words : " His Majesty's 
Government cannot for a moment entertain the Chancellor's 
proposal that they should bind themselves to neutrality on 
such terms." He pointed out that from the material point 
of view the proposal that England should stand by while 
French colonies were taken and France beaten, so long as 
Germany did not take French territory as distinct from the 
colonies, was unacceptable, for even on such terms France 
could be so crushed as to lose her position as a Great Power, 
and become subordinate to German policy. 
Quite apart from that it would be a disgrace from which 
Great Britain would never recover if she were to make such 
a bargain with Germany, while as for Germany's suggested 
action with regard to Belgium, Sir Edward said that " we 

55 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

could not entertain that bargain either." The telegram ends 
with yet another attempt to secure the peace of Europe. 
It is unnecessary for our purpose to go further into this 
matter of the neutrality of Belgium, and its wanton infringe- 
ment ; but we should like to point out that the treaty of 
1839, besides arranging for its recognition by the Powers, 
laid upon Belgium the obligation of resisting any invasion, 
and therefore it was not only her right but her duty to oppose 
every obstacle to the advance of her overwhelmingly powerful 
neighbour. How she fulfilled this duty all the world knows 
and all the world will remember "to the last syllable of 
recorded time " ; and we will conclude the consideration 
of this matter with her gallant king's touching appeal to 
King George V, on August 3rd, an appeal that was not sent 
in vain : 

" Remembering the numerous proofs of your Majesty's 
friendship," it ran, " and that of your predecessors, and the 
friendly attitude of England in 1870, and the proof of friend- 
ship she has just given us again, I make a supreme appeal to 
the diplomatic intervention of your Majesty's Government 
to safeguard the integrity of Belgium." 

Luxemburg 

A word must be said on the question of the infringement of 

the neutrality of Luxemburg, to which attention has been 

directed by the allusion in Herr von Bethmann-Hollweg's 

speech (quoted on pages 49-50). 

This little state was invaded by the German troops on 

August 2nd, without a pretence of a quarrel, and with the 

sole excuse that she feared a seizure of the Luxemburg 

railways by France — on grounds, be it noted, that have for 

obvious reasons never been disclosed. 

The perpetual neutrality of Luxemburg was guaranteed by 

the Treaty of London of 1867 (see p. 269), which was still 

in force and which was signed by Prussia and Austria as well 

56 



GREAT BRITAIN'S PARTICIPATION 

as by Great Britain, France, Russia, and other European 
states. 

On August 2nd, the same day as the invasion, the French 
ambassador in London spoke to Sir Edward Grey on the 
matter, and the Secretary of State reminded him that the 
convention of 1867 differed from the treaty referring to 
Belgium, in that England was bound to require the ob- 
servance of the latter without the assistance of the other 
guaranteeing Powers, while with regard to Luxemburg 
all the guaranteeing Powers were to act in concert. In 
1867 Lord Derby and Lord Clarendon had declared that the 
guarantee of the neutrality of Luxemburg was " limited in 
liability," and implied more a " moral sanction than a 
contingent liability to go to war " ; in consequence of this, 
and perhaps also in view of the extremely strained situation 
then prevailing. Great Britain did not consider that this 
invasion constituted a casus belli. 

Delivery of the British Ultimatum 
It was, of course. Sir Edward Goschen who delivered the 
British ultimatum to the German Secretary of State, and it 
is desirable that the account of their interview and the 
subsequent proceedings should be given in the ambassador's 
own words. 

" During the afternoon (of August 4th)," writes Sir Edward, 
" I again proceeded to the Imperial Foreign Office and 
informed the Secretary of State that unless the Imperial 
Government could give the assurance by 12 o'clock that night 
that they would proceed no further with their violation of 
the Belgian frontier and stop their advance, I had been 
instructed to demand my passports and inform the Imperial 
Government that His Majesty's Government would have to 
take all steps in their power to uphold the neutrality of 
Belgium and the observance of a treaty to which Germany 
was as much a party as themselves. 

57 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

" Herr von Jagow replied that to his great regret he could 
give no other answer than that which he had given me 
earlier in the day, namely, that the safety of the Empire 
rendered it absolutely necessary that the Imperial troops 
should advance through Belgium. I gave His Excellency 
a written summary of your telegram, and, pointing out that 
you had mentioned 12 o'clock as the time when His Majesty's 
Government would expect an answer, asked him whether, 
in view of the terrible consequences which would necessarily 
ensue, it were not possible even at the last moment that their 
answer should be reconsidered. He replied that if the time 
given were even twenty-four hours or more, his answer 
must be the same. I said that in that case I should have 
to demand my passports. This interview took place at 
about 7 o'clock. In a short conversation which ensued 
Herr von Jagow expressed his poignant regret at the 
crumbling of his entire policy and that of the Chancellor, 
which had been to make friends with Great Britain, and 
then, through Great Britain, to get closer to France. I said 
that this sudden end to my work in Berlin was to me also 
a matter of deep regret and disappointment, but that he 
must understand that under the circumstances and in view 
of our engagements. His Majesty's Government could not 
possibly have acted otherwise than they had done. 
" I then said that I should like to go and see the Chancellor, 
as it might be, perhaps, the last time I should have an 
opportunity of seeing him. He begged me to do so. I 
found the Chancellor very agitated. His Excellency at once 
began a harangue, which lasted for about twenty minutes. 

' A Scrap of Paper ' 

" He said that the step taken by His Majesty's Government 

was terrible to a degree ; just for a word — ' neutrality,' 

a word which in war time had so often been disregarded — 

just for a scrap of paper, Great Britain was going to make 

58 



GREAT BRITAIN'S PARTICIPATION 

war on a kindred nation who desired nothing better than to 
be friends with her. All his efforts in that direction had 
been rendered useless by this last terrible step, and the 
pohcy to which, as I knew, he had devoted himself since his 
accession to office had tumbled down like a house of cards. 
What we had done was unthinkable ; it was like striking a 
man from behind while he was fighting for his life against 
two assailants. He held Great Britain responsible for all 
the terrible events that might happen. I protested strongly 
against that statement, and said that, in the same way as 
he and Herr von Jagow wished me to understand that for 
strategical reasons it was a matter of Hfe and death to 
Germany to advance through Belgium and violate the 
latter' s neutrality, so I would wish him to understand that 
it was, so to speak, a matter of ' life and death ' for the 
honour of Great Britain that she should keep her solemn 
engagement to do her utmost to defend Belgium's neutrality 
if attacked. That solemn compact simply had to be kept, 
or what confidence could any one have in engagements given 
by Great Britain in the future ? The Chancellor said, ' But 
at what price will that compact have been kept. Has the 
British Government thought of that ? ' I hinted to His 
Excellency as plainly as I could that fear of consequences 
could hardly be regarded as an excuse for breaking solemn 
engagements, but His Excellency was so excited, so evidently 
overcome by the news of our action, and so little disposed to 
hear reason that I refrained from adding fuel to the flame 
by further argument. As I was leaving he said that the 
blow of Great Britain joining Germany's enemies was all 
the greater, that almost up to the last moment he and his 
government had been working with us and supporting our 
efforts to maintain peace between Austria and Russia. I said 
that this was part of the tragedy which saw the two nations 
fall apart just at the moment when the relations between 
them had been more friendly and cordial than they had been 

59 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

for years. Unfortunately, notwithstanding our efforts to 
maintain peace between Russia and Austria, the war had 
spread and had brought us face to face with a situation 
which, if we held to our engagements, we could not possibly 
avoid, and which unfortunately entailed our separation 
from our late fellow- workers. He would readily understand 
that no one regretted this more than I. 

The Last Word 

" At about 9.30 p.m. Herr von Zimmermann, the Under- 
Secretary of State, came to see me. After expressing his 
deep regret that the very friendly official and personal 
relations between us were about to cease, he asked me 
casually whether a demand for passports was equivalent to 
a declaration of war. I said that such an authority on 
international law as he was known to be must know as well 
or better than I what was usual in such cases. I added that 
there were many cases where diplomatic relations had been 
broken off, and, nevertheless, war had not ensued ; but that 
in this case he would have seen from my instructions, of 
which I had given Herr von Jagow a written summary, that 
His Majesty's Government expected an answer to a definite 
question by 12 o'clock that night and that in default of a 
satisfactory answer they would be forced to take such steps 
as their engagements required. Herr Zimmermann said 
that that was, in fact, a declaration of war, as the Imperial 
Government could not possibly give the assurance required 
either that night or any other night." 
As we have seen, no answer was sent and the result was war. 

Japan 

We have now brought the story of the outbreak of the 
Great War down to the time when nearly all the great 
nations of Europe were involved in it ; we have seen Serbia, 
Russia, France, Great Britain, and gallant little Belmum 
60 ^ 



GREAT BRITAIN'S PARTICIPATION 

I arrayed in arms against the empires of Germany and Austria ; 

I but the war had not been in progress for very long before 

' other nations had stepped into the fray, Japan against, and 

Turkey on the side of, the Teutonic Alhes. A brief mention 

of the reasons that induced these Far and Near Eastern 

Powers to take their places in the arena will not be out of 

place. 

It will be seen in Chapter XXII of this book how, after the 
Chino-Japanese War of 1894-5, Germany headed the move- 
ment that deprived Japan of the fruits of her victory, and 
how Germany ' leased ' from China the very strong position 
of Kiao-chau and its port, Tsingtau. The indignation 
aroused in the breast of Japan by that act has never been 
allowed to die down. 

By the Anglo-Japanese Alliance of 1902 (renewed in sub- 
sequent years) it was agreed that whenever their rights and 
interests were in jeopardy the two nations should consider 
in common what measures should be taken. Consequently, 
soon after the opening of hostihties a consultation was held, 
and the result was the following official announcement on 
August 17th : " The Governments of Great Britain and Japan 
having been in communication with each other, are of opmion 
that it is necessary for each to take action to protect the 
general interest in the Far East contemplated by the Anglo- 
Japanese Alliance, keeping specially in view the independence 
and integrity of China, and provided for in that agreement. 
It is understood that the action of Japan will not extend 
to the Pacific Ocean beyond the China Seas except in so far 
as it may be necessary to protect Japanese shipping Unes 
in the Pacific, nor beyond Asiatic waters westward of the 
China Seas, nor to any foreign territory except territory m 
German occupation on the continent of Eastern Asia." 
On August 15th Japan presented her ultimatum to Germany 
requesting her to evacuate Kiao-chau within three weeks, 
and giving her till the 23rd to reply. As no answer was 



THE NATIONS AT WAR ! 

received war was declared ; and Japan's intervention 
resulted early in November in the capture of Tsingtau by 
a combined force of Japanese, British, and Indian troops, 
and the expulsion of the Germans from Kiao-chau. 

Turkey 

The case of Turkey is very different, and is as involved as 
that of Japan is simple. It will have been gathered from 
what has already been said concerning Germany's pohcy in 
the Near East that it was much to her interest to ' nurse ' 
Turkey ; and for some years previous to 1914 she had very 
successfully done so. After the outbreak of hostilities the 
necessity for this pohcy was all the more insistent; for, 
not only would her active support be most useful to the 
Teutonic Allies, but— what was even more important from 
the Teuton point of view— the Turks would, thought the 
Germans, be able to induce their co-religionists in India, 
Egypt, and elsewhere in the British dominions, to break 
into insurrection and so embarrass Great Britain. The 
utter inefficacy of this scheme gives, it may be remarked, 
but one more proof of the failure of the machine-made 
German diplomacy. 

Turkey's pro-German sympathies were strong, but of course 
she was not going to risk her all solely for the sake of Ger- 
many. She had lost much as a result of the Balkan 
War of 1912-13, and we may be sure she was to receive 
back her lost territory— especially Salonica. On August 
8th she began to mobilize. At the beginning of the war 
Great Britain and her Allies gave her definite assurances 
that if she remained neutral her independence and integrity 
would be respected during the war and in the terms of peace. 
On August 12th, however, in buying from Germany her 
cruisers, the Goehen and Breslau (which had escaped the 
alhed fleets and taken refuge in the Dardanelles), Turkey 
committed what in the eyes of many authorities was a 
62 



GREAT BRITAIN'S PARTICIPATION 

deliberate breach of neutrality. The surprise and uneasiness 
occasioned by this were increased when it became generally 
known that since the start of the war Constantinople had 
been invaded by large numbers of German officers, who had 
usurped authority and had been able to coerce the ministers 
of the Porte into taking aggressive action. On September 
11th the judicial and financial capitulations were aboUshed 
and foreign residents were placed directly under the control 
of the Turkish authorities instead of under their own 
embassies as heretofore ; but still, beyond an official 
protest, the Allies did nothing. They had constantly warned 
the Sultan's Government against the danger in which they 
were placing the future of the Ottoman empire, but Turkey, 
seconded as she was by Germany, took no notice, and 
violations of neutrality grew in number and importance. 
On October 29th the British Government learnt that Turkish 
ships of war had, without any declaration of war, without 
warning, and without provocation of any sort, made wanton 
attacks upon open and undefended towns in the Black Sea. 
Next day— again without notice— the Turkish Government 
shut off telegraphic communication between England and 
the British Embassy at Constantinople, and these actions 
—coupled with the very important fact that the British 
Government knew that a contemplated Turkish raid on 
Egypt was in a very advanced state of preparation— left 
her no other course than to declare war on Turkey, which 
she did on September 5th. 

Possible Additions to the Nations at War 
This, then, for the present, completes the catalogue of the 
nations at war. We say ' for the present ' advisedly, for, 
at the moment of writing (January 1915), it is impossible 
to say how many other nations may be drawn into the 
deadly vortex. 

Perhaps before these words are in print Italy and Roumania 

63 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 
will have joined the Allies ; and it is at least possible that 
the Balkan League will be renewed, for Bulgaria, though 
still smarting under the way in which she was used by the 
Treaty of Bukarest in 1913, has shown very plainly that she 
has no intention of joining the Teutons. 

But these matters are still on the lap of the gods and they 
are, therefore, not ripe for treatment here. 



64 



CHAPTER IV 

PAN-SLAVISM VERSUS PAN-GERMANISM 

Russia's Part in the Serbian Issue : Strength of the 
Russian Army : The Distribution of the Slavs 
Origin of Pan-Slavism : The Tsar's Proclamation 
The Teutons of Europe : Intermingling of Races 
The Nations at War 
PAN-SLAVISM against Pan-Germanism was at the back of 
the issue which was launched when the Emperor of all the 
Russias took up Serbia's quarrel with Austria-Hungary. 
Russia, if she wanted a ground for war, could have found 
no better one. The popularity of her aggressive big-brother 
attitude to all the Slavs was quickly attested in Petrograd, 
or St Petersburg as it was then called. It had been a long 
time since war had appealed with the same fervour to so 
large a part of the Tsar's people. Slavs there were in plenty 
to menace the allied German Powers, even if there were not 
alUed French arms, on Germany's other flank, and Britain's 
naval supremacy to cope with. Slavs in past times had 
spread over all of Eastern Europe, from the Arctic to the 
Adriatic and the ^gean Seas. Their continuity was long 
ago broken into by an intrusion of Magyars, Finns, and 
Roumanians, leaving a northern Slavic section composed of 
North Russians, Poles, Czechs, and Slovaks, and a southern 
section comprising the main body of the Balkan people. 
For over a thousand years these Slavs have peopled Europe 
east of the Elbe River. And for centuries they kept the hordes 
of Tartars, Turks, and barbarians from Europe. Russia 
in those days was called " the nation of the sword." And 
over a hundred years ago that sword was drawn for Serbia. 
After 400 years of vassalage to Turkey, the Serbs rebelled in 
1804, and then only Russian intervention saved them from 
defeat. In later wars, notably in the Russo-Turkish War of 
1877, and in the Russian part in the outbreak of the Great 
War of 1914, oppression of the Slavs was a prominent issue. 

E 65 

/ 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

Russia's Part in the Serbian Issue 

What rendered the Russian menace so formidable at the 
opening of the Great War was the unusual enthusiasm which 
was displayed. Ordinarily, the huge population of Russia 
has been rather apathetic toward the purposes of the 
emperor. But in the case of Austria's injustice to Serbia 
the Tsar, judging from the demonstrations in St Petersburg, 
could reasonably count upon having behind him nearly 
100,000,000 Slavs among his subjects. Moscow and Odessa 
gave similar demonstrations of good feeling, and it seemed 
as if, in the event of the Tsar's assuming command as 
generahssimo of all the forces, the wave of enthusiasm would 
sweep over the whole empire. Who knows what is the 
strength of the Russian bear, once he is roused to active 
fury ? In the ten years following the Russo-Japanese 
War, Russia had greatly added to her army and navy, 
and materially cut down the time required for the 
mobilization of her forces by eliminating many of the 
difficulties attendant upon the transportation and equip- 
ment of troops. 

In considering the potential strength of the armies which 
Russia, in the course of a long war, might put in the field, 
it may be pointed out that military service in that empire 
of more than 170,000,000 people is universal and compulsory. 
Service under the flag begins at the age of twenty and lasts 
for twenty- three years. Usually it is proportioned as 
follows : Three or four years in the active army, fourteen 
or fifteen in the Zapas, or first reserve, and five years in the 
Opolchenie, or second reserve. For the Cossacks, those 
fighters who are a conspicuous element of Russia's military 
strength, there is hardly a cessation in discipline during 
their early manhood. Holding their lands by military 
tenure, they are liable to service for life. Furnishing their 
own equipment and horses — the Cossack is almost invariably 
a cavalryman — after two years' training in their homes, 
66 



PAN-SLAVISM VERSUS PAN-GERMANISM 

they pass through three periods of four years each, with 
diminishing duties, until they wind up in the reserve, which 
is hable to be called into the field in time of war. 

Strength of the Russian Army 

Russia's field army consists of three powerful divisions — the 
army of European Russia, the army of Asia, and the army 
of the Caucasus. The European Russian field army consists 
of twenty-seven army corps — each corps comprising, at 
fighting strength, about 36,000 men — and some twenty-odd 
cavalry divisions, of 4000 horsemen each. With the field 
army of the Caucasus, and the first and second reserve 
divisions of the Cossacks, the total would be brought to 
nearly 1,600,000 men. With the Asiatic army, the grand 
total, according to the latest figures, would give the Russian 
armies a fighting strength of 1,850,000 men, of whom it 
would be practicable to assemble, say, 1,200,000 in a single 
theatre of war. With respect to the armies which could be 
put in the field in time of urgent demand, there are conflicting 
estimates. It seems certain that Russia's war strength is 
more than 5,500,000 men, but this figure could be expanded 
without much difficulty to anything from ten to fifteen 
millions. Of course transport and the artillery for such a 
force is lacking. 

In the event of a prolonged war, in which the tide of affairs 
should put Russia strictly on the defensive, she would be less 
easily subdued than any large country of Europe. The very 
extent of her empire, protected by natural barriers at almost 
every side save where she touches North-East Europe, 
would present almost insuperable difficulties to the invader. 
Napoleon paid dearly for his rashness in pushing his columns 
into Moscow. The only conditions under which a repetition 
of such a feat is conceivable are not likely to be found 
during a general European struggle. 

67 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 
The Distribution of the Slavs 

To make matters worse for the Austrian or German invader, 

there are conflicting relations between their own people and 

the Russians. The people of the Polish provinces of Austria 

and Germany, for instance, however unfriendly they may 

have been toward Russia, as one of the dismemberers of the 

Polish kingdom, are strongly bound in blood and speech to 

the Russian nation. The Poles and Russians are brother 

Slavs, and cannot forget this in a conflict which approaches 

an issue between Pan-Germanism and Pan-Slavism, and 

now that the Tsar has promised to unite the dismembered 

portions of Poland and to guarantee the Poles the full use 

of their own language and religion and a large measure of 

autonomy, the allied Teutons are finding matters worse still. 

The Poles of East Prussia have an ingrained hatred of their 

German masters and have been embittered by political 

oppression to the point of revolt. Those along Austria's 

eastern border are little less bitter. 

The estimate is made that Europe contains in all about 
140,000,000 Slavs, this being the most numerous race on the 
continent, the Teutons ranking second. While the great 
bulk of these are natives of Russia, they have penetrated in 
large numbers to the west and south, and are to be found 
abundantly in the Balkan region, in the Austrian realm, and 
in the region of the disintegrated kingdom of Poland. 
According to recent authoritative statistics the race ques- 
tion in Austria-Hungary is decidedly complicated and 
diversified. In the kingdoms and provinces represented in 
the Reichsrath in Vienna there are nearly 10,000,000 
Germans and 18,500,000 non-Germans. Of these nekrly 
17,500,000 are Slavs. Among these Slavs, the Croats and 
Serbs number 783,000, chiefly in Dalmatia, while there are 
in all 660,000 Orthodox and nearly 3,500,000 Greek Uniats. 
In Hungary, with its subject kingdoms of Croatia and 
Slavonia, there are 10,050,000 Magyars, 2,037,000 Germans, 



68 



PAN-SLAVISM VERSUS PAN-GERMANISM 

and over 10,000,000 other non-Magyars. Of these, 3,000,000 
are Roumanians and well over 6,000,000 Slavs. The Croats, 
or Roman Catholic Serbs, number 1,800,000, and their 
Orthodox brothers are 1,100,000 in number. All told, 
Hungary has nearly 11,000,000 Roman Cathohc subjects' 
2,000,000 Greek Uniats, and 3,000,000 Orthodox. In this 
connection it should be remembered that the Patriarchate 
of the Orthodox Serb Church has been fixed at Karlowitz, 
under Hungarian rule, for over two centuries. 
In Bosnia and Herzegovina there are 451,000 Roman 
Catholic Croats, 856,000 Orthodox Serbs, and over 625,000 
Bosniaks, or Moslem Serbs. Thus it will be seen that' the 
Emperor Francis Joseph rules over more than 24,000,000 
Slavs and 3,225,000 Roumanians, of whom nearly 4,500,000 
adhere to various Orthodox Churches and 5,400,000 ' are 
Uniats. Of this Slav mass 5,000,000 Poles, mostly Roman 
Catholics, are not particularly susceptible to Pan-Slav 
propaganda, as that is largely Russian and Orthodox. 
Within the boundaries of Germany herself there are over 
3,000,000 Slavs, chiefly Poles, the Slavs of PoHsh descent 
in all being estimated at 15,000,000. To these must be 
added the Bulgarians, Serbs, and Montenegrins of the Balkan 
region, constituting about 7,000,000 more. 

Origin of Pan-Slavism 

The term Pan-Slavism has been given to the agitation 
carried on by a great party in Russia, its final ambition 
being the union of the Slavic peoples of Europe under 
Russian rule, as an extensive racial empire. This movement 
originated about 1830, when the feeling of race relationship 
in Russia was stirred up by the revolutionary movement in 
Poland. It gained renewed strength from the Polish revo- 
lution of 1863, and still survives as the slogan of an ardent 
party. The ideals of Pan-Slavism have made their way 
into the Slavic populations of Bohemia, Silesia, Croatia, 

69 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

and Slavonia, where there is dread of the members of the 
race losing their individuahty under the aggressive action 
of the Austrian, German, or Hungarian governments. In 
1877-78 Russia entered into war against Turkey as the 
champion of the Balkan Slavs, and her movement of the 
summer of 1914, when the independence of the Serbian 
Slavs was threatened by Austria, was prompted by similar 
motives. The immediate steps taken by Russia to mobilize 
her forces in protection of the Serbs was followed as imme- 
diately by a declaration of war on the part of the German 
Emperor and the quick precipitation of practically the 
whole of Europe into the cataclysm. 

The Tsar's Proclamation 

In this connection the proclamation made by the Russian 
Tsar to his people on August 3rd possesses much interest, 
as indicating his Slavic sentiment. The text is as follows : 
" By the grace of God we, Nicholas II, Emperor and Auto- 
crat of all the Russias, King of Poland and Grand Duke of 
Finland, etc., to all our faithful subjects make known that 
Russia, related by faith and blood to the Slav peoples and 
faithful to her historical traditions, has never regarded 
their fates with indifference. The fraternal sentiments of 
the Russian people for the Slavs have been awakened with 
perfect unanimity and extraordinary force in these last few 
days, when Austria-Hungary knowingly addressed to Serbia 
claims inacceptable for an independent state. 
" Having paid no attention to the pacific and conciliatory 
reply of the Serbian Government and having rejected the 
benevolent intervention of Russia, Austria made haste to 
proceed to an armed attack and began to bombard Belgrade, 
an open place. Forced by the situation thus created to 
take the necessary measures of precaution, we ordered the 
army and navy to be put on a war footing, while using every 
endeavour to obtain a peaceful solution of the pourparlers 
70 



PAN-SLAVISM VERSUS PAN-GERMANISM 

begun, for the blood and the property of our subjects are 
dear to us. 

" Amid friendly relations with Germany and her ally, 
Austria, contrary to our hopes in our good neighbourly 
relations of long date, and disregarding our assurances that 
the mobilization measures taken were in pursuance of no 
object hostile to her, Germany demanded their immediate 
cessation. Having been rebuffed in this demand, Germany 
suddenly declared war on Russia. 

" To-day it is not only the protection of a country related 
to us and unjustly attacked that must be accorded, but we 
must safeguard the honour, the dignity, and the integrity of 
Russia and her position among the Great Powers. 
" We believe unshakably that all our faithful subjects will 
rise with unanimity and devotion for the defence of Russian 
soil ; that internal discord will be forgotten in this threaten- 
ing hour ; that the unity of the Tsar with his people will 
become still more close ; and that Russia, rising like one 
man, will repulse the insolent attack of the enemy. 
" With a profound faith in the justice of our work and with 
a humble hope in omnipotent providence in prayer we call 
God's blessing on holy Russia and her valiant troops. 

" Nicholas." 
Barely a fortnight later came the proclamation to the Poles 
that has already been referred to. It was issued on the 
15th of August by the Grand Duke Nicholas, generalissimo 
of the Russian armies and cousin of the Tsar, in the name of 
the Tsar himself. It was accompanied by the announcement 
that a Viceroy of Poland had been arranged for, and runs 
as follows : 

" Poles ! The hour has sounded when the sacred dream of 
your fathers and your grandfathers may be realized. A 
century and a half has passed since the living body of Poland 
was torn in pieces, but the soul of the country is not dead. 
It continues to live, inspired by the hope that there will 

71 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 
come for the Polish people an hour of resurrection, and of 
fraternal reconciliation with Great Russia. The Russian 
army brings you the solemn news of this reconciliation 
which obliterates the frontiers dividing the Polish peoples, 
which it unites conjointly under the sceptre of the Russian 
Tsar. Under this sceptre Poland will be born again, free 
in her religion and her language. Russian autonomy only 
expects from you the same respect for the rights of those 
nationalities to which history has bound you. With open 
heart and brotherly hand Great Russia advances to meet 
you. She believes that the sword, with which she struck 
down her enemies at Griinwald, is not yet rusted. From 
the shores of the Pacific to the North Sea the Russian armies 
are marching. The dawn of a new life is beginning for you, 
and in this glorious dawn is seen the sign of the Cross, the 
symbol of suffering and of the resurrection of peoples." 
Thus this appeal of the Tsar, which was addressed not only 
to the Poles of Russia but to those under the banners of 
Germany and Austria also, reversed at a stroke the long- 
continued policy of Russia toward this hitherto down- 
trodden nation. And more than this, it stamped in a way 
that probably no other action of Russia could have done, 
her final and irrevocable breaking with Germany and the 
dual monarchy. For over a century the three empires had 
had a common bond in their complicity in the partition of 
Poland. That bond is now burst ; it is hardly possible that 
it can be reunited ; and in bursting it the Tsar has initiated 
a movement that cannot fail to have effects reaching far 
beyond the new boundaries of Poland, wherever they may 
be set. 

The Teutons of Europe 

While the Slavs form the great bulk of the inhabitants of 
Eastern Europe, the Teutons, or people of Teutonic race and 
language, are widely spread in the west and north, including 

72 



PAN-SLAVISM VERSUS PAN-GERMANISM 

the German-speaking people of Germany, Austria-Hungary, 
and Switzerland, the English-speaking people of the British 
Islands, the Scandinavian-speaking people of Norway and 
Sweden, the Flemish-speaking people of Belgium, and 
practically the whole people of Denmark and Holland. 
Yet though these are racially related there is no such feeling 
as a Pan-Teutonic sentiment, combining them into a racial 
unity. Instead of community and fraternity, a considerable 
degree of enmity and rivalry exists between the several 
peoples named, especially between the British and Germans. 
Pan-Germanism is not Pan-Teutonism in any proper sense, 
being confined to the several German countries of Europe, 
and especially to the combination of separate states which 
constitutes the present German empire. It is the Teuton 
considered in this minor sense that has set himself against 
the Slav, as a measure of self-defence against the torrent of 
Slavism apparently seeking an outlet in all directions. 
Prolific as we know the Anglo-Saxons to have once been 
and as the Germans still appear to be, there are few instances 
in human history of a natural growth of population like that 
of the Slavs in recent years. They have grown to out- 
number the Germans nearly three to one, and may perhaps 
do so in the future in a still greater proportion. 
This may not be altogether a desirable state of affairs in 
view of the fact that the Slavs as a whole are lower and more 
primitive in character and condition than the Germans. 
The cultivated portion of Slavic populations forms a very 
small proportion of the whole, and stands far in advance 
of the abundant multitude of peasants and artisans, a vast 
body of people who are ruled chiefly by fear ; fear of the 
State on one side, of the Church on the other. 

Intermingling of Races 

There has long been an embittered, remorseless, and often 
bloody struggle for supremacy between the Teuton and the 

7 o 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

Slav, yet there has been considerable interminghng of the 
races, many German traders making their way into Russian 
towns, while multitudes of Slavic labourers have penetrated 
into German communities. Eastern Prussia has large popu- 
lations of Slavs, and its Polish subjects in Posen have been 
persistently non-assimilable. But only within recent times 
has there arisen a passion to ' Russianize ' all foreign 
elements in the one nation and on the other hand to 
' Germanize ' all similar foreign elements in the other. 
Austria-Hungary is the most remarkable combination of 
unrelated peoples ever got together to form a state, and is 
especially notable for- its many separate groups of Slavs. 
Bohemia, for instance, has a very large majority of Slavic 
population, eager to be recognized as such, and there are 
Slavic populations somewhat indiscriminately scattered 
throughout the dual monarchy, especially in Hungary. 
These Slavic populations, however, differ widely Tn religious 
belief. While largely of the Greek confession of faith, a 
considerable section of them are Roman Catholics, and many 
are faithful Mohammedans. This difference in religion plays 
a major part in their political relations, a greater one than 
any feeling of nationality and racial unity, and aids greatly 
in adding to the diversity of condition and sentiment among 
these mixed populations. 

The Nations at War 

In the war which sprang so suddenly and startlingly into 
the field of events in 1914 very little of this sentiment of 
race animosity appeared. While the German element re- 
mained intact in the union of Germany and Austria, there 
was a strange mingling of races in the other side of the 
struggle, that of the Slavic Russian, the Teutonic Britain, 
and the Celtic French. As for Italy, the non-Germanic 
member of the Triple Alhance, it declared that the war was 
one m which it was in no sense concerned and under no 
74 



PAN-SLAVISM VERSUS PAN-GERMANISM 

obligation to enter into from the terms of its alliance. Later 
events tended to bring it into sympathy with the non- 
Germanic side, as a result of enmity to Austria. So the 
conflict became narrowed down to a struggle between Pan- 
Germanism on the one hand and a variety of thinly related 
elements on the other. It may be that the Emperor 
WilHam had a secret purpose to unite, if possible, all German- 
speaking peoples under his single sway and that Tsar 
Nicholas had similar views regarding a union of the Slavs, 
but the official papers that each has given to the world 
divulge nothing on these points, and it is difficult to say 
what secret plans and ambitions lay hidden in their minds. 
In this connection it is certainly of interest that three of the 
leaders in this great conflict were near relatives, the Tsar, 
the Kaiser, and George V being cousins, and all of Teutonic 
blood. 



75 



CHAPTER V 

EUROPE AT CLOSE OF XVIII CENTURY 

End OF Medievalism and Beginning of Modernism 
Ihe Age of Feudalism : Issues of the French Revolu- 
hon : How Napoleon won Fame : Conditions in 
1< ranee and Germany : Austria and Italy : Spain 
and Poland : Russia and Turkey 
WHEN, after a weary climb, we find ourselves on the 
summit of a lofty mountain, and look back from that 
commandmg altitude over the ground we have traversed 
what IS It that we behold ? The minor details of the scenery' 
many of which seemed large and important to us as we passed 
are now lost to view and we see only the great and imposing 
r^Ti n**^ landscape, the high elevations, the town 

forest n "^X '^''Pu'"'* "'°'^™S streams, the broad 

torests. It IS the same when, from the summit of an ase 
we gaze backward over the plain of time. The myriad of 
petty happenmgs are lost to sight, and we see only the 
whSfhr"'?:,'.^' critical epochs, the mighty crises through 
which the world has passed. These are the things that make 
true histoo^, not the daily doings in the king's palace or the 
peasant's hut. What we should seek to observe and store 
up m our memories are the turning-points in human events 
the great thoughts which have ripened into noble deeds, the 
hands of might which have pushed the world forward ik its 
career; not the trifling occurrences which signify nothina 
the passing actions which have borne no fruit in human 
fn mnd wT"^^ T^ turning-points, such critical periods 
in modern history, that here we are to deal ; not to picture 
the passing bubbles on the stream of time, but to pofnt 1 
the great ships which have sailed up that stream laden with 
asnect ^'f'^ht. This is history in its deepest and best 
aspect, and we have set our camera to photograph only 

htto^'" t° ^"^^'"^'1^ ^"d the events which constitute 
history m the way here outlined. 



EUROPE AT CLOSE OF XVIII CENTURY 

The Age of Feudalism 

The Mediaeval Age was the age of feudalism, that remarkable 
system of government based on military organization, by 
means of which Western Em^ope was ruled for centuries. 
The state was an army, the king its commander-in-chief, the 
nobility its captains and generals, the people its rank and file. 
As for the horde of labourers, they were hardly considered 
at all. In most countries they were merely the hewers of 
wood and drawers of water for the armed and fighting class, 
a base, down-trodden, enslaved multitude, destitute of rights 
and privileges, their only mission in the world to provide 
food for, and pay taxes to, their masters. 
France, the country in which the feudal system had its 
birth, was the country in which it had the longest lease of 
life. There it came down to the verge of the nineteenth 
century with little relief from its terrible exactions. We 
see before us in that country the spectacle of a people steeped 
in misery, crushed by tyranny, robbed of all political rights, 
and without a voice to make their sufferings known ; and 
of an aristocracy lapped in luxury, proud, vain, insolent, 
lavish with the people's money, ruthless with the people's 
blood, and blind to the spectre of retribution which was 
rising higher year by year before their eyes. 

Issues of the French Revolution 

This era of injustice and oppression reached its climax m 
the closing years of the eighteenth century, and went down 
at length in that hideous nightmare of blood and terror 
known as the French Revolution. Frightful as this was, it 
was unavoidable. The pride and privilege of the aristocracy 
had the people by the throat, and only the sword or the 
guillotine could loosen their hold. 

It was the need of money for the spendthrift throne that 
precipitated the Revolution. For years the indignation of 
the people had been growing and spreading ; for years the 

77 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

authors of the nation had been adding fuel to the flame. 
The voices of Voltaire, Rousseau, and a dozen others had 
been heard in advocacy of the rights of man, and the 
people were growing daily more restive under their load. 
But still the lavish waste of money wrung from the 
hunger and sweat of the people went on, until the king and 
his advisers found their coffers empty and were without hope 
of filling them without a direct appeal to the nation at large. 
It was in 1788 that the fatal step was taken. Louis XVI, 
King of France, called a session of the States-General, the 
parliament of the kingdom, which had not met for more 
than a hundred years. This body was composed of three 
classes, the representatives of the nobility, of the church, 
and of the people. In all earlier instances they had been 
docile to the mandate of the throne, and the monarch, 
blind to the signs of the times, had no thought but that 
this assembly would vote him the money he asked for, fix 
by law a system of taxation for his future supply, and 
dissolve at his command. 

He was ignorant of the temper of the common people. They 
had gained a voice at last, and were sure to take the oppor- 
tunity to speak their mind. Their representatives, known 
as the Third Estate, were made up of bold, earnest, indignant 
men, who asked for bread and were not to be put off with 
a stone. They were twice as numerous as the representa- 
tives of the nobles and the clergy, and thus held control 
of the situation. They were ready to support the throne, 
but refused to vote a penny until the crying evils of the 
state were reformed. They broke loose from the other two 
Estates, established in 1789 a separate parliament under 
the name of the National Assembly, and began that career 
of revolution which did not cease until it had brought 
monarchy to an end in France and set all Europe aflame. 
The Revolution grew, month by month and day by day. 
New and more radical laws were passed ; moss-grown 
78 





o 
o 

13 

Hi 

w 
o 

I— > 

Pi 

M 



EUROPE AT CLOSE OF XVIII CENTURY 

abuses were swept away in an hour's sitting ; the king, who 
sought to escape, was seized and held as a hostage ; and war 
was boldly declared against Austria and Prussia, which 
showed a disposition to interfere. In November, 1792, the 
French army gained a brilliant victory at Jemmapes, in 
Belgium, which eventually led to the conquest of that 
kingdom by France. It was the first important event in 
the career of victory which in the coming years was to make 
France glorious in the annals of war. 

The hostility of the surrounding nations added to the 
revolutionary fury in France. Armies were marching to 
the rescue of the king, and the unfortunate monarch was 
seized, reviled, and insulted by the mob, and incarcerated 
in the prison called the Temple. The queen, Marie An- 
toinette, daughter of the Emperor of Austria, was likewise 
haled from the palace to the prison. In the following year, 
1793, king and queen alike were taken to the guillotine and 
their royal heads fell into the fatal basket. The Revolution 
was consummated, the monarchy was at an end, France had 
fallen into the hands of the people, and from them it 
descended into the hands of a ruthless and blood-thirsty mob. 
Meanwhile a foreign war was being waged. England had 
formed a coalition with most of the nations of Europe, and 
France was threatened by land with the troops of Holland, 
Prussia, Austria, Spain, and Portugal, and by sea with the 
fleet of Great Britain. The incompetency of her assailants 
saved her from destruction. Her generals who lost battles 
were sent to prison or to the guillotine, the whole country 
rose as one man in defence, and a number of brilliant 
victories drove her enemies from her borders and gave the 
armies of France a position beyond the Rhine. 

How Napoleon won Fame 

These wars soon brought a great man to the front, Napoleon 
Bonaparte, a native of Corsica, whose career as a man of 

79 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

recognized ability began in 1795, when, under the orders of 
the National Convention — the successor of the National 
Assembly — he quelled the mob in the streets of Paris with 
loaded cannon and put a final end to the Terror which had 
so long prevailed. 

Placed at the head of the French army in Italy, Napoleon 
quickly astonished the world by a series of the most brilliant 
victories, defeating the Austrians and the Sardinians 
wherever he met them, seizing Venice, the city of the lagoon, 
and forcing almost all Italy to submit to his arms. A 
republic was established here and a new one in Switzerland, 
while Belgium and the left bank of the Rhine were held by 
France. 

His wars here at an end, Napoleon's ambition led him to 
Egypt, inspired by great designs which he failed to realize. 
In his absence anarchy arose in France. The five Directors, 
then at the head of the government, had lost ail authority, 
and Napoleon, who had unexpectedly returned, did not 
hesitate to overthrow them and the Assembly which sup- 
ported them. A new government, with three Consuls at 
its head, was formed. Napoleon, as First Consul, holding 
almost royal power. Thus France stood in 1800, at the end 
of the eighteenth century. 

Conditions in France and Germany 
In the remainder of Europe there was nothing to compare 
with the momentous convulsion which had taken place in 
France. England had gone through its two revolutions 
more than a century before, and its people were the freest 
of any in Europe. Recently it had lost its colonies in 
America, but it still held in that continent the broad domain 
of Canada, and was building for itself a new empire in India, 
while founding colonies in twenty other lands. In commerce 
and manufactures it entered the nineteenth century as the 
greatest nation on the earth. The hammer and the loom 
80 



EUROPE AT CLOSE OF XVIII CENTURY 
resounded from end to end of the island, mighty centres 
of industry arose where cattle had grazed a century before, 
coal and iron were being torn in great quantities from the 
depths of the earth, and there seemed everywhere an endless 
bustle and whirr. The ships of England haunted all the 
seas and visited the most remote ports, laden with the 
products of her workshops and bringing back raw material 
for her factories and looms. Wealth accumulated, London 
became the money market of the world, and the riches and 
prosperity of the island kingdom were growing to be a parable 
among the nations of the earth. 

On the continent of Europe, Prussia, destined in time to 
become great, had recently emerged from its mediaeval 
feebleness, mainly under the powerful hand of Frederick 
the Great, whose reign extended until 1786, and whose 
ambition, daring, and military genius made him a fitting 
predecessor of Napoleon the Great, who so soon succeeded 
him in the annals of war. Unscrupulous in his aims, this 
warrior king had torn Silesia from Austria, added to his 
kingdom a portion of unfortunate Poland, annexed the 
principahty of East Friesland, and lifted Prussia into a 
leading position among the European states. 
Germany, now — with the exception of Austria — a compact 
empire, was then a series of disconnected states, variously 
known as kingdoms, principalities, margravates, electorates, 
and by other titles, the whole forming the so-called Holy 
Empire, though it was " neither holy nor an empire." It 
had drifted down in this fashion from the Middle Ages, 
and the work of consolidation had but just begun, in 
the conquests of Frederick the Great. A host of petty 
potentates ruled the land, whose states, apart from Prussia 
and Austria, were too weak to have a voice in the councils 
of Europe. 

Joseph II, the titular Emperor of Germany, made an earnest 
and vigorous effort to combine its elements into a powerful 

F 81 



THE NATIONS AT WAR \ 

unit ; but he signally failed, and died in 1790, a disappointed 
and embittered man. 

Austria and Italy 

Austria, then by far the most powerful of the German states, I 
was from 1740 to 1780 under the reign of a woman, Maria 
Theresa, who struggled in vain against her ambitious 
neighbour, Frederick the Great, his kingdom being extended 
ruthlessly at the expense of her imperial dominions. Austria 
remained a great country, however, including Bohemia and 
Hungary among its domains. It was lord of Lombardy and 
Venice in Italy, and was destined to play an important but 
unfortunate part in the coming Napoleonic wars. 
The peninsula of Italy, the central seat of the great Roman 
empire, was, at the opening of the nineteenth century, as 
sadly broken up as Germany, a dozen weak states taking 
the place of the one strong one that the good of the people 
demanded. The independent cities of the mediaeval period 
no longer held sway, and we hear no more of wars between 
Florence, Genoa, Milan, Pisa, and Rome; but the country 
was still made up of minor states — Lombardy, Venice, and 
Sardinia in the north, Naples in the south, Rome in the 
centre, and various smaller kingdoms and dukedoms between. 
The peninsula was a prey to turmoil and dissension. Ger- 
many and France had made it their fighting ground for 
centuries, Spain had filled the south with her armies, and 
the country had been miserably torn and rent by these 
frequent wars and those between state and state, and was 
in a condition to welcome the coming of Napoleon, whose 
strong hand for the time promised the blessing of peace 
and union. 

Spain and Poland 

Spain, not many centuries before the greatest nation in 

Europe, and, as such, the greatest nation on the globe, had 

82 



EUROPE AT CLOSE OF XVIII CENTURY 

miserably declined in power and place at the opening of 
the nineteenth century. Under the Emperor Charles V it 
had been united with Germany, while its colonies embraced 
two-thirds of the great continent of America. Under 
Philip II it continued powerful in Europe, but with his death 
its decay set in. Intolerance checked its growth in civiliza- 
tion, the gold brought from America was swept away by 
more enterprising states, its strength was sapped by a suc- 
cession of feeble monarchs, and from first place it fell into 
a low rank among the nations of Europe. It still held its 
vast colonial dominions, but this proved a source of weak- 
ness rather than of strength, and the people of the colonies, 
exasperated by injustice and oppression, were ready for the 
general revolt which was soon to take place. Spain pre- 
sented the aspect of a great nation ruined by its innate vices, 
impoverished by official venality and the decline of industry, 
and fallen into the dry-rot of advancing decay. 
Of the nations of Europe which had once played a prominent 
part, one was on the point of being swept from the map. 
The name of Poland, which formerly stood for a great power, 
until lately stood only for a great crime. The misrule of the 
kings, the turbulence of the nobility, and the enslavement 
of the people had brought that state into such a condition 
of decay that it lay like a rotten log amid the Powers of 
Europe, 

The ambitious nations surrounding — Russia, Austria, and 
Prussia — took advantage of its weakness, and in 1772 each 
of them seized the portion of Poland that bordered on its 
own territories. In the remainder of the kingdom the 
influence of Russia grew so great that the Russian am- 
bassador at Warsaw became the real ruler in Poland. A 
struggle against Russia began in 1792, Kosciusko, a brave 
soldier who had fought under Washington in America, 
being at the head of the patriots. But the weakness of the 
king tied the hands of the soldiers, the Polish patriots left 

83 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

their native land in despair, and in the following year there 
was a further division of the state, Russia seizing a broad 
territory, 96,000 square miles in area, with more than 
3,000,000 inhabitants, Prussia 22,500 square miles, with a 
population of 1,100,000, and Austria Cracow with much of 
the surrounding country. 

In 1794 a new outbreak began. The patriots returned and 
a desperate struggle took place. But Poland was doomed. 
Suvaroff, the greatest of the Russian generals, swept the 
land with fire and sword. Kosciusko fell wounded, crying, 
" Poland's end has come," and Warsaw was taken and 
desolated by its assailants. The patriot was right ; the 
end had come. What remained of Poland was divided up 
between Austria, Prussia, and Russia, and, until the Tsar's 
manifesto of August 15th, 1914, only a name remained. 

Russia and Turkey 

There are two others of the Powers of Europe of which 
we must speak, Russia and Turkey. Until the seventeenth 
century Russia had been a domain of barbarians, weak and 
disunited, and for a long period the vassal of the savage 
Mongol conquerors of Asia. Under Peter the Great (1689- 
1725) it rose into power and prominence, took its place 
among civilized states, and began that career of conquest 
and expansion which is still going on. At the end of the 
eighteenth century it was under the rule of Catherine II, 
often miscalled Catherine the Great, who died in 1796, just 
as Napoleon was beginning his career. Her greatness lay 
in the ability of her generals, who defeated Turkey and 
conquered the Crimea, and who added the greater part of 
Poland to her empire. Her strength of mind and decision 
of character were not shared by her successor, Paul I, and 
Russia entered the nineteenth century under the weakest 
sovereign of the Romanoff line. 

Turkey, once the terror of Europe, sending its armies into 
84 




< 

W 

O _ 
^ I 



W 5 

o § 



Q 

o 



EUROPE AT CLOSE QF XVIII CENTURY 

the heart of Austria, was now confined within the boundaries 
it had won long before, and had begun its long struggle for 
existence with its powerful neighbour Russia. At the 
beginning of the nineteenth century it was still a powerful 
state, with a wide domain in Europe, and continued to defy 
the Christians who coveted its territory and sought its 
overthrow. But the canker-worm of a weak and barbarous 
government was at its heart, while the cruel treatment of its 
Christian subjects exasperated the Powers of Europe and 
invited their armed interference. 

As regards the world outside of Europe and America, no 
part of it had yet entered the circle of modern civilization. 
Africa was an almost unknown continent ; Asia was little 
better known ; and the islands of the Eastern seas were 
still in process of discovery. Japan, which was approach- 
ing its period of manumission from barbarism, was still 
closed to the world, and China lay like a huge and help- 
less bulk, fast in the fetters of conservatism and blind 
self-sufficiency. 



85 



CHAPTER VI 

THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 
Its Effect on National Conditions finally 
LED to the War of 1914 

The Campaign in Italy : The Victory at Marengo : 
Moreau wins Glory at Hohenlinden : Napoleon the 
Idol of France : The Cofisul made Emperor : The 
Code Napoleon : Campaign of 1805 ; Battle of 
Austerlitz : The Gains of the Empire : The Con- 
quest of Prussia : Invasion of Poland : The Check 
at Eylau : Cainpaign of 1809 ; Great Battles around 
Vienna : Victory at Wagram : The Divorce of 
Josephine 
THE first fifteen years of the nineteenth century in Europe 
yield us the history of a man rather than of a continent. 
France was the centre of Europe ; Napoleon, the Corsican, 
was the centre of France. All the affairs of all the nations 
seemed to gather around this genius of war. He was re- 
spected, feared, hated ; he had risen with the suddenness of 
a thunder-cloud on a clear horizon, and flashed the lightnings 
of victory in the dazzled eyes of the nations. All the events 
of the period were concentrated into one great event, and 
the name of that event was Napoleon. He seemed incarnate 
war, organised destruction ; sword in hand, he dominated 
the nations, and victory sat on his banners with folded wings. 
He was, in a full sense, the man of destiny, and Europe was 
his prey. 

Never has there been a more wonderful career. The earlier 
great conquerors began life at the top ; Napoleon began his 
at the bottom. Alexander was the son of a king ; Caesar 
was an aristocrat of the Roman republic ; Napoleon rose 
from the people, and was not even a native of the land 
which became the scene of his exploits. Pure force of 
military genius lifted him to the highest place among man- 
kind, and for long and terrible years Europe shuddered at 
86 



THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 

his name and trembled beneath the tread of his marching 
legions. As for France, he brought her glory, and left her 
ruin and dismay. 

We have briefly epitomized Napoleon's early career, his 
doings in the Revolution, in Italy, and in Egypt, to the time 
that France's worship of his military genius raised him to 
the rank of First Consul, and gave him in effect the power 
of a king. No one dared question his word, the army was 
at his beck and call, the nation lay prostrate at his feet — not 
in fear but in admiration. Such was the state of affairs in 
France in the closing year of the eighteenth century. The 
Revolution was at an end ; the Republic existed only as a 
name ; Napoleon was the autocrat of France and the terror 
of Europe. From this point we resume the story of his 
career. 

The First Consul began his reign with two enemies in the 
field, England and Austria. Prussia was neutral, and he 
had won the friendship of Paul, the Emperor of Russia, by 
a shrewd move. While the other nations refused to exchange 
the Russian prisoners they held, Napoleon sent home 6000 
of these captives, newly clad and armed, under their own 
leaders, and without demanding ransom. This was enough 
to win to his side the weak-minded Paul, whose delight in 
soldiers he well knew. 

Napoleon wrote letters to these two enemies, the King of 
England and the Emperor of Austria, offering peace. The 
answers were cold and insulting, asking France to take 
back her Bourbon kings and return to her old boundaries. 
Nothing remained but war. Napoleon prepared for it with 
his usual rapidity, secrecy, and keenness of judgment. 

The Campaign in Italy 

There were two French armies in the field in the spring of 
1800, Moreau commanding in Germany, Massena in Italy. 
Switzerland, which was occupied by the French, divided 

87 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

the armies of the enemy, and Napoleon determined to take 

advantage of the separation of their forces, and strike an 

overwhelming blow. He sent word to Moreau and Massena 

to keep the enemy in check at any cost, and secretly gathered 

a third army, whose corps were dispersed here and there, 

while the Powers of Europe were aware only of the army of 

reserve at Dijon, made up of conscripts and invahds. 

Meanwhile the armies in Italy and Germany were doing their 

best to obey orders. Massena was attacked by the Austrians 

before he could concentrate his troops, his army was cut in 

two, and he was forced to fall back upon Genoa, in which 

city he was closely besieged, with a fair prospect of being 

conquered by starvation if not soon relieved. Moreau was 

more fortunate. He defeated the Austrians in a series of 

battles and drove them back on Ulm, where he blockaded 

them in their camp. All was ready for the great movement 

which Napoleon had in view. 

Twenty centuries before Hannibal had led his army across 
the great mountain barrier of the Alps, and poured down 
like an avalanche upon the fertile plains of Italy. The 
Corsican determined to repeat this brilhant achievement 
and emulate Hannibal's career. Several passes across the 
mountains seemed favourable to his purpose, especially 
those of the St Bernard, the Simplon, and Mont Cenis. Of 
these the first was the most difficult ; but it was much the 
shorter, and Napoleon determined to lead the main body of 
his army over this ice-covered mountain pass, despite its 
dangers and difficulties. The enterprise was one to deter 
any man less bold than Hannibal or Napoleon, but it was 
' all in the day's work ' to the hardihood and daring of 
these men, who rejoiced in the seemingly impossible and 
scorned faltering at hardships and perils. 
The task of the Corsican was greater than that of the Car- 
thaginian. He had cannon to transport, while Hannibal's 
men carried only swords and spears. But the genius of 
08 



THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 

Napoleon was equal to the task. The cannon were taken 
from their carriages and placed in the hollowed-out trunks 
of trees, which could be dragged with ropes over the ice 
and snow. Mules were used to draw the gun-carriages 
and the wagon-loads of food and munitions of war. Stores of 
provisions were placed at suitable points along the road. 
The sudden appearance of Napoleon in Italy was an utter 
surprise to the Austrians. The French descended like a 
torrent into the valley, seized Ivrea, and five days after reach- 
ing Italy met and repulsed an Austrian force. The divisions 
which had crossed by other passes one by one joined Napo- 
leon. Melas, the Austrian commander, was warned of the 
danger that impended, but refused to credit the seemingly 
preposterous story. His men were scattered, some be- 
sieging Massena in Genoa, some attacking Suchet on the Var. 
His danger was imminent, for Napoleon, leaving Massena to 
starve in Genoa, had formed the design of annihilating the 
Austrian army at one tremendous blow. 
The people of Lombardy, weary of the Austrian yoke, 
and hoping for liberty under the rule of France, received 
the new-comers with joy, and lent them what aid they 
could. On June 9th Marshal Lannes met and defeated the 
Austrians at Montebello, after a hot engagement. "I heard 
the bones crackle hke a hailstorm on the roofs," he said. 
On the 14th, the two armies met on the plain of Marengo, 
and one of the most famous of Napoleon's battles began. 

The Victory at Marengo 

Napoleon was not ready for the coming battle, and was 
taken by surprise. He had been obliged to break up his 
army in order to guard all the passages open to the enemy. 
When he entered, on the 13th, the plain between the Scrivia 
and the Bormida, near the little village of Marengo, he was 
ignorant of the movements of the Austrians, and was not 
expecting the onset of Melas, who, on the following morning, 

89 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 
crossed the Bormida by three bridges, and made a fierce 
assault upon the divisions of Generals Victor and Lannes. 
Victor was vigorously attacked and driven back, and 
Marengo was destroyed by the Austrian cannon. Lannes 
was surrounded by overwhelming numbers, and, fighting 
furiously, was forced to retreat. In the heat of the battle 
Bonaparte reached the field with his guard and his staff, 
and found himself in the thick of the terrific affray and his 
army virtually beaten. 

The retreat continued. It was impossible to check it. The 
enemy pressed enthusiastically forward. The army was in 
imminent danger of being cut in two. But Napoleon, with 
obstinate persistence, kept up the fight, hoping for some 
change in the perilous situation. Melas, on the contrary 
—an old man, weary of his labours, and confident in the 
seeming victory— withdrew to his headquarters at Ales- 
sandria, whence he sent off despatches to the effect that the 
terrible Corsican had at length met defeat. 
He did not know his man. Napoleon sent an aide-de-camp 
m all haste after Desaix, one of his most trusted generals 
who had just returned from Egypt, and whose corps he 
had detached toward Novi. All depended upon his rapid 
return. Without Desaix the battle was lost. Fortunately 
the alert general did not wait for the messenger. His ears 
caught the sound of distant cannon and, scenting danger, 
he marched back with the utmost speed. 
Napoleon met his welcome officer with eyes of joy and hope. 
"You see the situation," he said, rapidly explaining the 
state of affairs. " What is to be done ? " 
" It is a lost battle," Desaix rephed. " But there are some 
hours of daylight yet. We have time to win another." 
While he talked with the commander, his regiments had 
hastily formed, and now presented a threatening front to the 
Austrians. Their presence gave new spirit to the retreating 
troops. 
90 



THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 

" Soldiers and friends," cried Napoleon to them, " remember 
that it is my custom to sleep upon the field of battle." 
Back upon their foes turned the retreating troops, with new 
animation, and checked the victorious Austrians. Desaix 
hurried to his men and placed himself at their head. 
" Go and tell the First Consul that I am about to charge," 
he said to an aide-de-camp. " I need to be supported by 
artillery." 

A few minutes afterward, as he was leading his troops 
irresistibly forward, a ball struck him in the breast, inflicting 
a mortal wound. " I have been too long making war in 
Africa ; the bullets of Europe know me no more," he sadly 
said. " Conceal my death from the men ; it might rob 
them of spirit." 

The soldiers had seen him fall, but, instead of being dispirited, 
they were filled with rage, and rushed forward furiously to 
avenge their beloved leader. At the same time Kellermann 
arrived with his dragoons, impetuously hurled them upon 
the Austrian cavalry, broke through their columns, and fell 
upon the grenadiers who were wavering before the troops of 
Desaix. It was a death-stroke. The cavalry and infantry 
together swept them back in a disorderly retreat. One 
whole corps, hopeless of escape, threw down its arms and 
surrendered. The late victorious army was everywhere in 
retreat. The Austrians were crowded back upon the Bor- 
mida, here blocking the bridges, there flinging themselves 
into the stream, on all sides flying from the victorious French. 
The cannon stuck in the muddy stream and were left to the 
victors. When Melas, apprised of the sudden change in the 
aspect of affairs, hurried back in dismay to the field, the 
battle was irretrievably lost, and General Zach, his repre- 
sentative in command, was a prisoner in the hands of the 
French. The field was strewn with thousands of the dead. 
The slain Desaix and the living Kellermann had turned the 
Austrian victory into defeat and saved Napoleon. 

91 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

A few days afterward, on the 19th, Moreau in Germany won 
a brilHant victory at Hochstadt, near Blenheim, took 5000 
prisoners and twenty pieces of cannon, and forced from 
the Austrians an armed truce which left him master of 
South Germany. A still more momentous armistice was 
signed by Melas in Italy, by which the Austrians surrendered 
Piedmont, Lombardy, and all their territory as far as the 
Mincio, leaving France master of Italy. Melas protested 
against these severe terms, but Napoleon was immovable. 
" I did not begin to make war yesterday," he said. " I 
know your situation. You are out of provisions, encum- 
bered with the dead, wounded, and sick, and surrounded 
on all sides. I could exact everything. I ask only what 
the situation of affairs demands. I have no other terms to 
offer." 

During the night of the 2nd and 3rd of July, Napoleon re- 
entered Paris, which he had left less than two months before. 
Brilliant ovations met him on his route, and as he came 
crowned with glory gained on the field of battle, all France 
would have prostrated itself at his feet had he permitted. 

Moreau wins Glory at Hohenlinden 

Five months afterward, Austria having refused to make 
peace without the concurrence of England, and the truce 
being at an end, another famous victory was added to the 
list of those which were being inscribed upon the annals of 
France. On the 3rd of December the veterans under Moreau 
met an Austrian army under the Archduke John, on the 
plain of Hohenlinden, across which ran the small river Isar. 
The Austrians marched through the forest of Hohenlinden, 
looking for no resistance, and unaware that Moreau' s army 
awaited their exit. As they left the shelter of the trees 
and debouched upon the plain, they were attacked by the 
French in force. Two divisions had been despatched to 
take them in the rear, and Moreau held back his men to give 
92 




Pi 
< 
a 

o 

Pi 

H 

W 
Q 

00 
W 

Ph 



r 



THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 

them the necessary time. The snow was falhng in great 
flakes, yet through it his keen eyes saw some signs of con- 
fusion in the hostile ranks. 

" Richepanse has struck them in the rear," he said, " the 
time has come to charge." 

Ney rushed forward at the head of his troops, driving the 
enemy in confusion before him. The centre of the Austrian 
army was hemmed in between the two forces. Decaen had 
struck their left wing in the rear and forced it back upon the 
Inn. Their right was driven into the valley. The day was 
lost to the Austrians, whose killed and wounded numbered 
8000, while the French had taken 12,000 prisoners and 
eighty-seven pieces of cannon. 

The victorious French advanced, sweeping back all opposi- 
tion, until Vienna, the Austrian capital, lay before them, 
only a few leagues away. His staff officers urged Moreau 
to take possession of the city. 

" That would be a fine thing to do, no doubt," he said ; 
" but to my fancy to dictate terms of peace will be a finer 
thing still." 

The Austrians were ready for peace at any price. On 
Christmas Day, 1800, was signed the armistice of Steyer, 
which delivered to the French the valley of the Danube, 
the country of the Tyrol, a number of fortresses, and immense 
magazines of war materials. The war continued in Italy 
till the end of December, when a truce was signed there and 
the conflict was at an end. 

Napoleon the Idol of France 

The events which immediately followed may be briefly 
summarized. Napoleon's briUiant victories had won him a 
leading position in France and made him at once the terror 
of Europe and the admiration of the world. Among the 
excitable and glory-loving people of France he was fairly 
worshipped. His word was law, his rank that of a general 

93 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

and consul, his position that of an emperor and autocrat. 
He had but to speak and the whole nation was ready and 
eager to obey. The nineteenth century dawned, leaving 
France at peace with all the countries of Europe except 
Great Britain, a treaty of peace being concluded with Austria 
at Luneville in February, 1801. 

So far as Great Britain was concerned the war that still 
existed with the Republic had to do solely with the troops 
which Napoleon had left in Egypt on his hasty return from 
that country. England was in complete command of the 
sea, and these troops, some of which were all that was left 
of the force with which Bonaparte had won his early victories 
in Italy, were caught in a trap. In February, 1800, however, 
Sir Sidney Smith, who was in command of the British and 
Turkish forces, agreed to grant the French a free passage 
home ; but the British Government had previously been 
made aware of the sore straits to which the French were 
reduced and had already sent orders that the whole of their 
forces were to surrender as prisoners of war. Sir Sidney 
was obliged to inform the French general that he had 
exceeded his powers, and the struggle went on, at first with 
some success on the part of the French against the Turks. 
Early in March, 1801, the British were reinforced by Sir 
Ralph Abercromby, and within a fortnight completely de- 
feated the French at Alexandria. In June they surrounded 
the rest of the enemy's forces in Cairo, but as they had 
no siege guns they again offered the French Sir Sidney 
Smith's original terms, and the garrison capitulated on the 
condition that it should be sent back to France in safety. 
The army in Alexandria was now attacked, and by the end 
of August it was defeated, their flotilla destroyed, and the 
last stronghold of the French in Egypt taken. On March 27, 
1802, the treaty of Amiens was signed, establishing peace 
between England and France, and for the first time for 
many years France was free from war. 
94 



THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 

A Period of Peace 

The days of leisure which now came to the First Consul — 
the rank at this time held by Napoleon — were by no means 
days of idleness. His mind throbbed with new ideas and 
new purposes. There were relics of the insensate fury of 
the Revolution that needed to be removed, and to these he 
first applied himself. One of the earhest things he did was 
to restore the Christian worship in the churches of France, 
abolishing the Republican festivals which had replaced 
Christianity with paganism. 

But he did not propose to share his authority with the 
Pope — to allow another kingship to clash with his own. 
He insisted that the Church should yield its old-time su- 
premacy, and become a servant of, instead of an autocrat 
over, the French state. Another step was to have his term 
of office extended from ten years, as originally fixed, to life. 
He established himself in the Tuileries, where he began to 
restore the old court customs and etiquette abohshed by 
the Revolution, and made an effort to re-establish the 
customs and usages of the monarchy. The royal customs 
and elegance established made the First Consul's court 
resemble that of the deposed monarchy. In truth he had 
made himself king in everything but in name. However, 
the new liberties and privileges which the people had won 
by the Revolution were not interfered with. With these 
the plebeian who had made himself monarch was in full 
sympathy. Feudalism had been definitely overthrown, 
and Napoleon's supremacy in the state at that time was 
benevolent and recognized popular freedom. 

The Consul made Emperoe, 

He was not without enemies — bitter ones, many of them. 
There were among the old Republicans many shrewd enough 
to see that the repubhc they had founded was being under- 
mined by this new popular favourite. Plots were formed, 

95 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

attempts made upon his life, and even Moreau, the victor 
at HohenHnden, was accused of being in collusion with the 
conspirators and was banished from France. Napoleon 
fought them with a ruthlessness equal to their own. The 
Duke d'Enghien, a royalist French nobleman, believed by 
Napoleon to be deeply concerned in the royalist conspiracies, 
ventured too near the borders of France and was seized and 
taken to Paris by agents of the First Consul. Here, without 
form of law or opportunity for defence, he was at once 
executed. This was an act of lawless power which excited 
more indignation than anything in Napoleon's career, and 
one which historians of the present day do not hesitate to 
characterize as murder. 

The culmination of Napoleon's ambition came in 1804, 
when, like Caesar, the Roman conqueror, he sought the 
crown as a reward for his victories, and was elected Emperor 
of the French by an almost unanimous vote. The Pope 
was obliged to come to Paris at the fiat of the new autocrat 
and to anoint him as emperor, thus giving the sanction of 
the Church to his new dignity. 

The old insignia of royalty were at once restored, the em- 
peror surrounded himself with a brilliant court, brought 
back the discarded titles of nobility, and sought to banish 
every trace of republican simplicity. But the new royalty 
was not of the old type. Feudalism was definitely at an 
end. The world of Europe entered upon its nineteenth- 
century career with the system that had outlived its day 
banished from France and with few footholds elsewhere. 
The new empire was founded upon modern lines, called into 
existence by the votes of a free people, not resting upon 
a nation of slaves. 

The Code Napoleon 

During his brief respite from war Napoleon's activity was 

great, his statesmanship notable. Great public works, 

96 





I. OFFICERS INSPECTING A GERMAN TRENCH 

Photo Al fieri 

II. BOMB-PROOF SHEETER 
Photo Record Press 



96 



THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 

monuments to his glory, were constructed, wide schemes of 
pubhc improvement were entered upon, and important 
changes were made in the financial system that provided 
the great sums needed for these enterprises. The most 
important of these evidences of intellectual activity was the 
Code Napoleon, the first organized code of French law and 
still the basis of jurisprudence in France. This, first pro- 
mulgated in 1801 as the civil code of France, had its title 
changed to Code Napoleon in 1804, and as such stands as 
one of the greatest monuments to the mental capacity of 
this extraordinary man. 

The period of peace ended in 1803, when war again broke 
out, this time only between France and Great Britain in 
the first instance, the chief causes being alarm on the part 
of Great Britain at a threatened invasion of Egypt and also 
at Napoleon's violation of the Peace of Amiens in annexing 
Piedmont ; while Napoleon seized on Great Britain's reten- 
tion of Malta as a casus belli. 

Little took place for a year ; but at about the same time 
that Napoleon became emperor, Pitt returned to office as 
Prime Minister in England and soon organized a coalition 
with Russia, Austria, and some of the minor states against 
the arch-enemy. Napoleon, meanwhile, who for years had 
been irritated by the inviolability of the white cliffs of 
Albion, thought his time had come. By an astute move 
he lured the British fleet away from her shores ; a great 
fleet was gathered, and a powerful army got ready, the 
army numbering 120,000 men with 10,000 horses, the fleet 
1800 transports and warships of various types. It was 
a threatening enterprise and might have been successful 
under such a leader as Napoleon, but for the vigilance 
of Nelson and the shrewd policy of William Pitt, whose 
European coalition gave the emperor a new use for his 
army. 

G 97 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

Campaign of 1805 

The Austrians, who had been so often defeated, were again 
quickly in the field, but they were not quick enough for the 
alert Napoleon, whose troops were at once set in motion 
from all quarters toward the Rhine. Early in October, 1805, 
the French held both banks of the Danube, and were 
handled so skilfully that the Austrian army under General 
Mack, an incapable commander, was surrounded in the 
fortress of Ulm and forced to surrender as prisoners of war ; 
25,000 soldiers and eighteen generals were held as captives 
by the victorious French. Another army, sent to Italy, 
was met and defeated by Marshal Massena. 
Meanwhile the King of Prussia had joined the fray. Napo- 
leon had gone to all lengths to obtain him as an ally, had 
even offered him the gift of Hanover ; but it was to no 
purpose, for all that Prussia had granted was her neutrality. 
Now, however, Frederick William's territory had been 
crossed by the French without his consent, so he joined the 
coalition against Napoleon, gave free passage to the troops 
of Sweden and Russia, and despatched a powerful army to 
Austria. The French under Murat had reached and occupied 
Vienna, forcing the Austrian Emperor to flee for safety, and 
thence advanced into Moravia. Here, on the 1st of Decem- 
ber, 1805, the two armies, both concentrated in their fullest 
strength (82,500 of the allies to 65,000 French) came face to 
face on the field of Austerlitz, where on the following day 
was to be fought one of the memorable battles in the history 
of the world. 

Battle of Austerlitz 

The Tsar, Alexander I (Paul having been assassinated in 
1801), had joined Francis of Austria, and the two monarchs, 
with their staff officers, occupied the castle and village of 
Austerlitz. Their troops hastened to take up positions on 
the plateau of Pratzen, which Napoleon had designedly 



THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 

left free. His plans of battle were already fully made. 
He had, with the intuition of genius, foreseen the probable 
manoeuvres of the enemy, and had left open for them the 
position which he wished them to occupy. He even an- 
nounced their movement in a proclamation to his troops. 
"The positions that we occupy are formidable," he said, 
" and while the enemy march to turn my right they will 
present to me their flank." 

This movement to the right was indeed the one that had 
been decided upon by the allies, with the purpose of cutting 
off the road to Vienna by isolating numerous corps dispersed 
in Austria and Styria. It had been shrewdly divined by 
Napoleon in choosing his ground. 

The fact that the 2nd of December was the anniversary of 
the coronation of the emperor filled the French troops with 
ardour. They celebrated it by making great torches of the 
straw which formed their beds and illuminating their camp. 
Early the next morning the allies began their projected 
movement. To the joy of Napoleon his prediction was 
fulfilled : they were advancing toward his right. He felt 
sure that the victory was in his hands. 
He held his own men in readiness while the line of the enemy 
deployed. The sun was rising, its rays gleaming through a 
mist, which dispersed as it rose higher. It now poured its 
brilliant beams across the field, the afterward famous ' sun 
of Austerlitz.' The movement of the allies had the effect 
of partly withdrawing their troops from the plateau of 
Pratzen. At a signal from the emperor the strongly con- 
centrated centre of the French army moved forward in a 
dense mass, directing their march toward the plateau, 
which they made all haste to occupy. They had reached 
the foot of the hill before the rising mist revealed them 
to the enemy. 

The two emperors watched the movement without divining 
its intent. " See how the French climb the height without 

99 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

staying to reply to our fire," said Prince Czartoryski, who 
stood near them. 

The emperors were soon to learn why their fire was disdained. 
Their marching columns, thrown out one after another on 
the slope, found themselves suddenly checked in their 
movement, and cut off from the two wings of the army. 
The allied force was pierced in its centre by Soult's division 
and flung back in disorder, in spite of the efforts of Kutusoff 
to send it aid. At the same time Davout faced the Russians 
on the right, and Murat and Lannes attacked the Russian 
and Austrian squadrons on the left, while Kellermann's 
light cavalry dispersed the squadrons of the Uhlans. 
The Russian Guard, checked in its movement, turned toward 
Pratzen, in a desperate effort to retrieve the fortune of the 
day. It was incautiously pursued by a French battalion, 
which soon found itself isolated and in danger. Napoleon 
perceived its peril and hastily sent Rapp to its support, 
with the Mamelukes and the chasseurs of the Guard. They 
rushed forward with energy and quickly drove back the 
enemy. Prince Repnin remaining a prisoner in their hands. 
The day was lost to the allies. Everywhere disorder pre- 
vailed and their troops were in retreat. An isolated Russian 
division threw down its arms and surrendered. Two 
columns were forced back beyond the marshes. The soldiers 
rushed in their flight upon the ice of the lake, which the 
intense cold had made thick enough to bear their weight. 
And now a terrible scene was witnessed. War is merciless ; 
it attains its end by death ; the slaughter of an enemy by 
almost any means is looked upon as admissible. By 
Napoleon's order the French cannon were turned upon the 
lake. Their plunging balls rent and splintered the ice under 
the feet of the crowd of fugitives. Soon it broke with a 
crash, and the unhappy soldiers, with shrill cries of despair, 
sank to death in the chilling waters beneath, thousands of 
them perishing. 
100 



THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 

A portion of the allied army made a perilous retreat along a 
narrow embankment which separated the two lakes of 
Monitz and Satschan, their exposed causeway swept by the 
fire of the French batteries. Of the whole army, the corps 
of Prince Bagration alone withdrew in order of battle. 
All that dreadful day the roar of battle had resounded. At 
its close the victorious French occupied the field ; the allied 
army was pouring back in disordered flight, the dismayed 
emperors in its midst ; thousands of dead covered the field, 
the groans of thousands of wounded men filled the air. 
More than 15,000 prisoners, including twenty generals, 
remained in Napoleon's hands, and with them a hundred 
and thirty pieces of cannon and forty flags, including the 
standards of the Imperial Guard of Russia. 



The Gains of the Empire 

The defeat was a crushing one. Napoleon had won the 
most famous of his battles. The Emperor Francis, in deep 
depression, asked for an interview and an armistice. Two 
days afterward the emperors — the conqueror and the con- 
quered — met, and an armistice was granted. While the 
negotiations for peace continued, Prussia made a shameful 
peace with Napoleon and accepted the state of Hanover as 
the price of the betrayal of her allies and as the seal of her 
alliance with the emperor. On December 26th a treaty of 
peace between France and Austria was signed at Presburg. 
The Emperor Francis yielded all his remaining possessions 
in Italy, and also the Tyrol, the Black Forest, and other 
districts in Germany, which Napoleon presented to his allies, 
Bavaria, Wiirtemberg, and Baden, whose monarchs were 
still more closely united to Napoleon by marriages between 
their children and relatives of himself and his wife Josephine. 
Bavaria and Wiirtemberg were made kingdoms, and Baden 
was raised in rank to a grand duchy. The three months' 

101 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

war was at an end. Of the several late enemies of France, 
only two remained in arms, Russia and England ; and in 
England Pitt, Napoleon's greatest enemy, died during the 
next month, leaving to Fox, an admirer of the principles 
of the French Revolution, and to a great extent of the 
Corsican, the reins of power. Napoleon was at the summit 
of his glory and success. 

The victory of Austerlitz left Germany in Napoleon's hands ; 
it was this victory that drew from the heart of the grey- 
haired Pitt the well-known remark, " Roll up the map of 
Europe ! it will not be wanted these ten years " ; and now 
its remodelling was to be one of the greatest that had ever 
taken place at any one time. Kingdoms were formed and 
placed under Napoleon's brothers or favourite generals. 
His changes in the states of Germany were numerous and 
radical. The states in the south and west of Germany were 
organized into the Confederation of the Rhine, under his 
protection. Many of the small principalities were sup- 
pressed and their territories added to the larger states. 
As to the ' Holy Roman Empire,' a once powerful organiza- 
tion which had long since sunk into a mere shadow, it finally 
ceased to exist. The empire of France was extended by 
these and other changes until it spread over Italy, the 
Netherlands, and the south and west of Germany. 
Changes so great as this could scarcely be made without 
exciting bitter opposition. Prussia had been seriously 
affected by Napoleon's map-making, and when Frederick 
William found that Napoleon was even taking from him his 
gift—or better, blood-money— of Hanover, he became so 
exasperated that he broke off all communication with 
France and began to prepare for war. 

The Conquest of Prussia 

It is by no means unlikely that Napoleon had been working 

for this. It is certain that he was quick to take advantage 

102 



THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 

of it. While the Prussian King was slowly collecting his 
troops and war material, the veterans of France were already 
on the march and approaching the borders of Prussia. The 
hasty levies of Frederick William were no match for the 
war-hardened French, the Russians failed to come to their 
aid, and on the 14th of October, 1806, the two armies met 
at Jena. 

The Prussians proved incapable of withstanding the im- 
petuous attack of the French and were soon broken and in 
panic and flight. Nothing could stop them. Reinforce- 
ments came up, 20,000 in number, and were thrown across 
their path ; but in vain, for they were swept away by the 
fugitives and pushed back by the triumphant pursuers. 
At the same time another battle was in progress near Auer- 
stadt between Marshal Davout and the forces of the Duke 
of Brunswick. This, too, ended in victory for the French. 
The king had been with the duke and was borne back by 
the flying host, the two bodies of fugitives finally coalescing. 
In that one fatal day Frederick WiUiam had lost his army 
and placed his kingdom in jeopardy. " They can do 
nothing but gather up the debris,'' said Napoleon. 
It took but a brief period to complete the utter dispersal of 
the Prussian forces, and on October 27th Napoleon entered 
in triumph the city of Berlin, the Prussian capital. The 
whole country was at his mercy, and its chief cities were 
heavily taxed to meet the expenses of the war, while their 
treasures of art and science were carried off to enrich the 
museums and galleries of France. All English merchandise 
found in ports and warehouses was seized, and a heavy war 
contribution put upon the state. As Napoleon could not 
reach the British islands, he now established a continental 
embargo upon British trade. This war upon commerce, 
in which Great Britain took part in reprisal, caused great 
distress, not only in Europe but in America as well, one of 
its final effects being the American War of 1812. 

103 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

Invasion of Poland 

Napoleon, not content while an enemy remained in arms, 
with inflexible resolution resolved to make an end of all his 
adversaries and meet in battle the great empire of the north, 
which had remained in arms against him since the battle of 
Austerlitz. The Russian armies then occupied Poland, 
whose people, burning under the oppression and injustice 
to which they had been subjected, gladly welcomed Napo- 
leon's specious offers to bring them back their lost liberties, 
and rose in his aid when he marched his armies into their 
country. One of the means taken by Napoleon to draw the 
Poles to his standard was to issue a proclamation with the forged 
signature of their hero, Kosciusko, attached thereto. 
In Poland the French, on marching against their foe, found 
themselves exposed to unlooked-for privations. They had 
dreamed of abundant stores of food, but discovered that 
the country they had invaded was, in this wintry season, 
a desert, a series of frozen solitudes incapable of feeding an 
army, and holding no reward for them other than that of 
battle with and victory over the hardy Russians. 
Napoleon advanced to Warsaw, the Polish capital. The 
Russians were entrenched behind the Narew and the Ukra. 
The French continued to advance. The Russians were 
beaten and forced back in every battle, several furious 
encounters took place, and Alexander's army fell back upon 
the Pregel, intact and powerful still, despite the French 
successes. The terrible cold and the character of the country 
seriously interfered with Napoleon's plans, the troops being 
forced to make their way through dense and rain-soaked 
forests, and march over desolate and marshy plains. The 
winter of the north fought against them like a strong army 
and many of them fell dead without a battle. Warlike 
movements became almost impossible to the troops of the 
south, though the hardy northerners, accustomed to the 
climate, continued their military operations. 
104 



THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 

The Check at Eylau 

By the end of January the Russian army was evidently 
approaching in force, and immediate action became neces- 
sary. The cold increased. The mud was converted into 
ice. On January 30, 1807, Napoleon left Warsaw and 
marched in search of the enemy. General Benningsen 
retreated, avoiding battle, and on the 7th of February 
entered the small town of Eylau, from which his troops 
were pushed by the approaching French. He encamped 
outside the town, the French in and about it ; it was evident 
that a great battle was at hand. 

The weather was cold. Snow lay thick upon the ground 
and still fell in great flakes. A sheet of ice covering some 
small lakes formed part of the country upon which the 
armies were encamped, but was thick enough to bear their 
weight. It was a chill, inhospitable country to which the 
demon of war had come. 

Before daybreak on the 8th Napoleon was in the streets of 
Eylau, forming his line of battle for the coming engagement. 
Soon the artillery of both armies opened, and a rain of 
cannon-balls began to decimate the opposing ranks. The 
Russian fire was concentrated on the town, which was soon 
in flames. That of the French was directed against a hiU 
which the emperor deemed it important to occupy. The 
two armies, nearly equal in numbers— the French having 
75,000 to the Russian 70,000— were but a short distance 
apart, and the slaughter from the fierce cannonade was 
terrible. 

A series of movements on both sides began, Davout marching 
upon the Russian flank and Augereau upon the centre, while 
the Russians manoeuvred as if with the purpose to out- 
flank the French on the left. At this interval an unlooked-for 
obstacle interfered with the French movements ; it began 
to snow heavily, and the fall grew so dense that vision was 
restricted to a few feet and the armies lost sight of each other. 

105 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

In this semi-darkness the French columns lost their way 
and wandered about uncertainly, while Augereau's corps 
was completely destroyed. For half an hour the snow 
continued to fall. When it ceased the position of the 
French army was serious. Augereau and other commanders 
were wounded, and the various columns had lost touch 
with each other and so were of small use for purposes of 
mutual support. The Russians, on the contrary, were just 
about to undertake a vigorous turning movement, with 
20,000 infantry, supported by cavalry and artillery. 
" Are you going to let me be devoured by these people ? " 
cried Napoleon to Murat, his eagle eye discerning the danger. 
He ordered a grand charge of all the cavalry of the army 
consisting of eighty squadrons. With Murat at their head, 
they rushed like an avalanche on the Russian lines, breaking 
through the infantry and dispersing the cavalry who came 
to its support. The Russian infantry suffered severely 
from this charge, its two massive lines being rent asunder, 
while the third fell back upon a wood in the rear. Finally 
Davout, whose movement had been hindered by the weather, 
reached the Russian rear, and in an impetuous charge drove 
them from the hilly ground which Napoleon wished to 
occupy. 

The Russians now began a retreat, leaving the ground 
strewn thickly with their dead and wounded ; but at this 
critical moment a Prussian force, some 8000 strong, which 
was being pursued by Marshal Ney, arrived on the field 
and checked the French advance and the Russian retreat. 
Benningsen regained sufficient confidence to prepare for 
final attack, when he was advised of the approach of Ney, 
who was two or three hours behind the Prussians. At this 
discouraging news a final retreat was ordered. 
The French were left masters of the field, though little 
attempt was made to pursue the menacing columns of the 
enemy, who withdrew in military array. It was a victory 
106 



THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 

that came near being a defeat, and which, indeed, both sides 
claimed. Never before had Napoleon been so stubbornly 
withstood. His success had been bought at a frightful cost, 
and Konigsberg, for long the second capital of Prussia, 
which the emperor had boasted he would enter m tnumph, 
was still covered by the compact columns of the alhes. 
The men were in no condition to pursue. Food was wantmg, 
and they were without shelter from the wintry chill. Ney 
surveyed the terrible scene with eyes of gloom. ^" What a 
massacre," he exclaimed ; " and without result ! " 
So severe was the exhaustion on both sides from this great 
battle that it was four months before hostilities were resumed. 
Meanwhile Danzig, which had been strongly besieged, sur- 
rendered, and more than 30,000 men were released to re- 
inforce the French army. Negotiations for peace went 
slowly on, without result, and it was June before hostihties 
again became imminent. 

Eylau, which was now Napoleon's headquarters, presented 
a very different aspect at this season from that of four 
months before. Then all was wintry desolation ; now the 
country presented a beautiful scene of green woodland, 
shining lakes, and attractive villages. The light corps of 
the army were in motion in various directions, their object 
being to get between the Russians and their magazines and 
cut off retreat to Konigsberg. On June 13th Napoleon, 
with the main body of his army, which had been heavily 
reinforced, marched toward Friedland, a town on the river 
Alle in the vicinity of Konigsberg, toward which the 
Russians were moving. Here, crossing the Alle, Benmngsen 
drove from the town a regiment of French hussars which 
had occupied it, and fell with all his force on the corps of 
Marshal Lannes, which alone had reached the field. 
Lannes held his ground with his usual heroic fortitude, 
while sending successive messengers for aid to the emperor. 
Noon had passed when Napoleon and his staff reached the 
^ 107 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

field at full gallop, far in advance of the troops. He sur- 
veyed the field with eyes of hope. " It is the 14th of June, 
the anniversary of Marengo," he said ; " it is a lucky day 
for us." 

" Give me only a reinforcement," cried Oudinot, " and we 
will cast all the Russians into the water." 
This seemed possible. Benningsen's troops were perilously 
concentrated within a bend of the river. Some of the 
French generals advised deferring the battle till the next 
day, as the hour was late, but Napoleon was too shrewd to 
let an advantage escape him. 

" No," he said, " one does not surprise the enemy twice in 
such a blunder." He swept with his field-glass the masses 
of the enemy before him, then seized the arm of Marshal 
Ney. " You see the Russians and the town of Friedland," 
he said. " March straight forward ; seize the town ; take 
the bridges, whatever it may cost. Do not trouble yourself 
with what is taking place around you. Leave that to me 
and the army." 

The troops were coming on rapidly, and marching to the 
places assigned them. The hours moved on. It was half- 
past five in the afternoon when the cannon sounded the 
signal of the coming fray. Meanwhile Ney's march upon 
Friedland had begun. A terrible fire from the Russians 
swept his ranks as he advanced. Aided by cavalry and 
artillery, he reached a stream defended by the Russian 
Imperial Guard. Before those picked troops the French 
recoiled in temporary disorder ; but the division of General 
Dupont, marching briskly up, broke the Russian Guard, 
and the pursuing French rushed into the town. In a short 
time it was in flames and the fugitive Russians were cut off 
from the bridges, which were seized and set on fire. 
The Russians made a vigorous effort to recover their lost 
ground, General Gortchakoff endeavouring to drive the 
French from the town, and other corps making repeated 



THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 

attacks on the French centre. All their efforts were in vain. 
The French columns continued to advance. By ten o'clock 
the battle was at an end. Many of the Russians had been 
drowned in the stream, and the field was covered with 
their dead, whose numbers were estimated by the boastful 
French bulletins at 15,000 or 18,000 men, while they made 
the improbable claim of having lost no more than 500 dead. 
Konigsberg, the prize of victory, was quickly occupied by 
Marshal Soult, and yielded the French a vast quantity of 
food, and a large store of mihtary supphes, which had been 
sent from England for Russian use. The King of Prussia 
had lost the whole of his possessions with the exception of 
the single town of Memel. 

Victorious as Napoleon had been, he had found the Russians 
no contemptible foes. At Eylau he had come nearer defeat 
than ever before in his career. He was quite ready, there- 
fore, to listen to overtures of peace, and toward the end of 
June a notable interview took place between him and the 
Tsar of Russia at Tilsit, on the Niemen, the two emperors 
meeting on a raft in the centre of the stream. What passed 
between them is not known. Some think that they arranged 
for a division of Europe between their respective empires, 
Alexander taking all the east, and Napoleon all the west. 
However that may be, the treaty of peace, signed July 8th, 
was a disastrous one for the defeated Prussian king, who was 
punished for his temerity in seeking to fight Napoleon alone 
by the loss of more than half his kingdom, while in addition 
a heavy war indemnity was laid upon his depleted treasury. 
He was forced to yield all the countries between the Rhine 
and the Elbe, to consent to the establishment of the Grand 
Duchy of Warsaw, under the supremacy of the King of 
Saxony, and to the loss of Danzig and the surrounding 
territory, which was converted into a free state. A new 
kingdom, named WestphaHa, was founded by Napoleon, 
made up of the territory taken from Prussia and the states 

109 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

of Hesse, Brunswick, and South Hanover. His younger 
brother, Jerome Bonaparte, was made its king. It was a |l 
further step in his poHcy of founding a western empire. 
Louisa, the beautiful and charming queen of Frederick 
WilHam, sought Tilsit, hoping by the seduction of her 
beauty and grace of address to induce Napoleon to mitigate f 
his harsh terms. But in vain she brought to bear upon him 
all the resources of her intellect and her attractive charm 
of manner. He continued cold and obdurate, and she left 
Tilsit deeply mortified and humiliated. 

Campaign of 1809 

The campaign in Spain which followed, and occupied the 
whole of 1809, we will leave for treatment in a future chapter, 
and shall now briefly summarize what followed in Eastern 
Europe. The events were of much interest, and take a 
prominent part in the annals of the great Napoleonic cam- 
paigns. Indignation of the Austrians at the arbitrary acts 
of the conqueror became in time so intense that, in April, 
1809, they again declared war against France, despite the 
many defeats they had experienced. This war led to an 
interesting struggle in the Tyrol, the Austrian section of the 
Alps, in which Andreas Hofer, a valiant leader of the moun- 
taineers, for a time gained freedom from French dominion. 
But their independence was of short duration, and their 
courageous leader was taken and remorselessly put to death 
for daring to seek freedom for his country. 
The French campaign in Austria was, as usual, one of great 
speed— a speed that was remarkable for those days preceding 
the railway. Yet the Archduke Charles, who led the Aus- 
trians, was equally rapid in his movements, and the widely 
spread French army soon found itself in imminent risk of 
being cut in two by the Austrians. This peril Napoleon 
perceived in reaching the front, and he wrote urging Massena 
forward. 
110 



THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 

" Never was there need for more rapidity of movement 
than now. Activity, activity, speed ! " was the burden of 
his letter. 

A brief hesitation robbed the archduke of the advantage he 
had gained. The rapidly concentrating French army fell 
upon his troops, defeated them in a series of engagements, 
relieved Davout before Ratisbon, captured that town, and 
forced the archduke to retreat into Bohemia. This brief 
but active campaign gave Napoleon, according to his des- 
patch, 50,000 prisoners, a hundred cannon, and a large 
quantity of other military material. In Italy the French 
were less successful, meeting with defeat at the hands of 
Archduke John, commander of the Austrian army in that 
country. General Macdonald, the French commander, took 
up a defensive position, and on the first of May was gratified 
to see indications of withdrawal of the enemy. 
" Victory in Germany ! " he cried. " Now is our time for 
a forward march." 

He was correct ; the Archduke John had been recalled in 
haste to aid his brother Charles in the defence of Vienna, 
on which the French were advancing in force. 

Great Battles around Vienna 

The campaign now became a race for the capital of Austria. 
During its progress several conflicts took place, in each of 
which the French won. The city was defended by the 
Archduke Maximilian with an army of over 15,000 men, 
but he found it expedient to withdraw, and on the 13th May 
the troops of Napoleon occupied the Austrian capital. 
Meanwhile Charles had concentrated his troops and was 
marching hastily toward the opposite side of the Danube, 
whither his brother John was advancing from Italy. 
It was important for Napoleon to strike a blow before this 
junction could be made. He resolved to cross the Danube 
in the suburbs of the capital itself, and attack the Austrians 

111 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

before they were reinforced. In the vicinity of Vienna the 
channel of the river is broken by many islets. At the island 
of Lobau, the point chosen for the attempt, the river is 
broad and deep, but Lobau is separated from the opposite 
bank by only a narrow branch, while two smaller islets 
offered themselves as aids in the construction of bridges, 
there being four channels, over each of which a bridge was 
thrown. 

This operation was difficult. The Danube, swollen by the 
melting snows, imperilled the bridges, erected with diffi- 
culty and braced by insufficient cordage. But despite this 
peril the crossing began, and on May 20th Marshal Massena 
reached the other side and posted his troops in the two 
villages of Aspern and Essling, and along a deep ditch that 
connected them. 

As yet only the vanguard of the Austrians had arrived. 
Other corps soon appeared, and by the afternoon of the 21st 
the entire army, from 70,000 to 80,000 strong, faced the 
French, still only half their number, and in a position of 
extreme peril, for the bridge over the main channel of the 
river had broken during the night, and the crossing was cut 
off in its midst. 

Napoleon, however, was straining every nerve to repair the 
bridge, and Massena and Lannes, in command of the advance, 
fought like men fighting for their lives. The Archduke 
Charles, the ablest soldier Napoleon had yet encountered, 
hurled his troops in masses upon Aspern, which covered the 
bridge to Lobau. Several times it was taken and retaken, 
but the French held on with a death-grip, all the strength 
of the Austrians seeming insufficient to break the hold of 
Lannes upon Essling. An advance in force, which nearly 
cut the communication between the two villages, was checked 
by an impetuous cavalry charge, and night fell, leaving the 
situation unchanged. 

At dawn of the next day more than 70,000 French had 
112 



THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 

crossed the stream ; Marshal Davout's corps, with part of 
the artillery and most of the ammunition, being still on the 
right bank. At this critical moment the large bridge, 
against which the Austrians had sent fireships, boats laden 
with stone, and other floating missiles, broke for the third 
time, and the engineers of the French army were again 
forced to the most strenuous and hasty exertions for its 
repair. 

The struggle of the day that had just begun was one of 
extraordinary valour and obstinacy. Men went down in 
multitudes ; now the Austrians, now the French, were 
repulsed ; the Austrians, impetuously assailed, slowly fell 
back ; and Lannes was preparing for a vigorous movement 
designed to pierce their centre, when word was brought 
Napoleon that the great bridge had again yielded to the 
floating debris, carrying with it a regiment of cuirassiers, 
and cutting off the supply of ammunition. Lannes was at 
once ordered to fall back upon the villages, and simul- 
taneously the Austrians made a powerful assault on the 
French centre, which was checked with great difficulty. 
Five times the charge was renewed, and though the enemy 
was finally repulsed, it became evident that Napoleon, for 
the first time in his career, had met with a decided check. 
Night fell at length, and reluctantly he gave the order to 
retreat. He had lost more than a battle, he had lost the 
brilliant soldier Lannes, who fell with a mortal wound. 
Back to the island of Lobau marched the French ; Massena, 
in charge of the rear-guard, bringing over the last regiments 
in safety. More than 40,000 men lay dead and wounded on 
that fatal field, which remained in Austrian hands. Napo- 
leon, at last, was obliged to acknowledge a check, if not a 
defeat, and the nations of Europe, when the news reached 
them, held up their heads with renewed hope. It had been 
proved that the Corsican was not invincible. 
Some of Napoleon's generals, deeply disheartened, advised 

H 113 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

an immediate retreat, but the emperor had no thought of 
such a movement. It would have brought a thousand 
disasters in its train. On the contrary, he held the island 
of Lobau with a strong force, and brought all his resources 
to bear on the construction of a bridge that would defy 
the current of the stream. At the same time reinforcements 
were hurried forward, until by the 1st of July he had around 
Vienna an army of 150,000 men. The Austrians had prob- 
ably from 135,000 to 140,000. The archduke had, more- 
over, strongly fortified the positions of the recent battle, 
expecting the attack upon them to be resumed. 

Victory at Wagram 

Napoleon had no such intention. He had selected the 
heights ranging from Neusiedl to Wagram, strongly occupied 
by the Austrians, but not fortified, as his point of attack, 
and on the night of July 4th bridges were thrown from the 
island of Lobau to the mainland, and the army which had 
been gathering for several days on the island began its 
advance. It moved as a whole against the heights of 
Wagram, occupying Aspern and Essling in its advance. 
These operations took up the succeeding day, and on the 
6th the great battle began. It was hotly contested at all 
points, but attention may be confined to the movement 
against the plateau of Wagram, which had been entrusted 
to Marshal Davout. The height was gained after a desperate 
struggle ; the key of the battle-field was held by the French ; 
the Austrians, impetuously assailed at every point, and 
driven from every position of vantage, began a retreat. 
The Archduke Charles had anxiously looked for the coming 
of his brother John, with the army imder his command. 
He waited in vain, the laggard prince failed to appear, and 
retreat became inevitable. The battle had already lasted 
ten hours, and the French held all the strong points of the 
field ; but the Austrians withdrew slowly and in battle 
114 



THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 
array, presenting a front that discouraged any effort to 
pursue. There was nothing resembUng a rout, and the 
victory for the French, though it was a victory, could not 
be compared with such as those of Jena or Austerlitz. 
The Archduke Charles retreated to Bohemia. His forces 
were dispersed during the march, but he had 70,000 men 
with him when Napoleon reached his front at Znaim, on 
the road to Prague, on the 11th of July. Further hostilities 
were checked by a request for a truce, preliminary to a peace. 
The battle, already begun, was stopped, and during the night 
an armistice was signed. The vigour of the Austrian 
resistance and the doubtful attitude of the other Powers 
made Napoleon willing enough to treat for terms. 
The peace, which was finally signed at Vienna, October 14, 
1809, took from Austria 50,000 square miles of territory and 
4,000,000 inhabitants, together with a war contribution of 
nearly £17,500,000, while her army was restricted to 150,000 
men. The overthrow of the several outbreaks which had 
taken place in North Germany, the failure of a British 
expedition against Antwerp, and the suppression of the 
revolt in the Tyrol, ended all organized opposition to 
Napoleon, who was once more master of the European 
situation. 

The Divorce of Josephine 

Raised by this signal success to the summit of his power, 
lord paramount of Western Europe, only one thing remained 
to trouble the mind of the victorious emperor. His wife, 
Josephine, was childless ; his throne threatened to be left 
without an heir. Much as he had seemed to love his wife, 
the companion of his early days, when he was an unknown 
and unconsidered subaltern, seeking humbly enough for 
military employment in Paris, yet ambition and the thirst 
for glory were always the ruling passions in his nature, and 
had now grown so dominant as to throw love and wifely 

115 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

devotion utterly into the shade. He resolved to set aside 
his wife and seek a new bride among the princesses of Europe, 
hoping in this way to leave an heir of his own blood as 
successor to his imperial throne. 

Negotiations were entered into with the courts of Europe 
to obtain a daughter of one of the proud royal houses as the 
spouse of the plebeian Emperor of France. No maiden of 
less exalted rank than a princess of the imperial families of 
Russia or Austria was high enough to meet the ambitious 
aims of this arrogant lord of battles, and negotiations were 
entered into with both, ending in the selection of Marie 
Louise, daughter of the Emperor Francis of Austria, who 
did not venture to refuse a demand for his daughter's hand 
from the master of half his dominions. 

Napoleon was not long in finding a plea for setting aside the 
wife of his days of poverty and obscurity. A defect in the 
marriage was alleged, and the transparent farce went on. 
The divorce of Josephine has awakened the sympathy of a 
century. It was, indeed, a piteous example of statecraft, 
and there can be no doubt that Naopleon suffered in his 
heart while yielding to the dictates of his unbridled ambition. 
The marriage with Marie Louise, on the 1st of April, 1810, 
was conducted with all possible pomp and display, no less 
than five queens carrying the train of the bride in the august 
ceremony. The purpose of the marriage did not fail ; the 
next year a son was born to Napoleon. But this imperial 
youth, who was dignified with the title of King of Rome, 
was destined to an inglorious life, as an unconsidered tenant 
of the gilded halls of his imperial grandfather of Austria. 
The empire so brilliantly built up by Napoleon the Great 
was destined to end with his final defeat at Waterloo. It 
was as well. No man of his name could hope to emulate 
his career or worthily grasp the sceptre he was finally forced 
to let fall. An unworthy one, sarcastically termed ' Napo- 
leon the Little,' sought to do so, but proved an example of 
116 



THE EARTHQUAKE OF NAPOLEONISM 

the ordinary seeking to replace the extraordinary. Of all 
rulers of men and leaders of armies few if any have equalled 
Napoleon in genius. Alike as a soldier and as a statesman 
he proved himself great, and the passing of the years has 
never brought about the passing of the admiration of the 
world for his genius, or its wonder at the defects that 
accompanied it. 



117 



CHAPTER VII 

NELSON AND WELLINGTON, THE 

CHAMPIONS OF BRITAIN 

End of the European Reign of Terror 

The Battle of the Nile : Nelson at Copenhagen : 

Defeat of the Danes : Nelson at Trafalgar : Nelson 

wins and dies : The Campaign in Portugal : 

Oporto and Talavera : The French driven from 

Portugal : Wellington in Spain : Madrid occupied 

FOR nearly twenty years went on the stupendous struggle 

between Napoleon the Great and the Powers of Europe, 

but in all that time, and among the multitude of men who 

met the forces of France in battle, only two names emerge 

which the world cares to remember, those of Horatio Nelson, 

the most famous of the admirals of England, and the Duke 

of Wellington, who alone seemed able to overthrow the 

greatest military genius of modern times. On land the 

efforts of Napoleon were seconded by the intrepidity of a 

galaxy of heroes, Ney, Murat, Moreau, Massena, and other 

men of fame. At sea the story reads differently. That 

era of stress and strain raised no great admiral in the service 

of France ; her ships were feebly commanded, and the fleet of 

England, under the daring Nelson, kept its proud place as 

mistress of the sea. 

The Battle of the Nile 

The first proof of this came before the opening of the century, 
when Napoleon, led by the ardour of his ambition, landed 
in Egypt, as we have seen, with vague hopes of rivalling in 
the East the far-famed exploits of Alexander the Great. 
The fleet which bore him thither remained moored in Aboukir 
Bay, where Nelson, scouring the Mediterranean in quest of 
it, first came in sight of its serried line of ships on August 1, 
1798. One alternative alone dwelt in his courageous soul, 
that of an heroic death or a glorious victory. " Before this 
118 



NELSON AND WELLINGTON 

time to-morrow I shall have gained a peerage or Westminster 
Abbey," he said. 

In the mighty contest that followed, the French had the 
advantage in numbers, alike of ships, guns, and men. They 
were drawn up in a strong and compact line of battle, moored 
in a manner that promised to bid defiance to a force double 
their own. They lay in an open roadstead but had every 
advantage of situation, the British fleet being obliged to 
attack them in a position carefully chosen for defence. 
Only the genius of Nelson enabled him to overcome those 
advantages of the enemy. "If we succeed, what will the 
world say ? " asked Captain Berry, on hearing the admiral's 
plan of battle. " There is no 'if in the case," answered 
the admiral. " That we shall succeed is certain : who may 
live to tell the story is a very different question." 
The story of the Battle of the Nile belongs to the record 
of eighteenth-century affairs. All we need say here is that 
it ended in a glorious victory for the English fleet. Of 
thirteen ships of the line in the French fleet, only two 
escaped. Of four frigates, one was sunk and one burned. 
The British loss was 895 men. Of the French, 5225 perished 
in the terrible fray, and nearly 3800 fell into the hands of 
the British. Nelson sprang, in a moment, from the position 
of a man without fame into that of the naval hero of the 
world. Congratulations and honours were showered upon 
him, the Sultan of Turkey rewarded him with costly presents, 
valuable testimonials came from other quarters, and his own 
country honoured him with the title of Baron Nelson of the 
Nile, and settled upon him for life a pension of £2000. 

Nelson at Copenhagen 

The first great achievement of Nelson in the following 
century was the result of a daring resolution of the statesmen 
of England, in their desperate contest with the Corsican 
conqueror. By his exploit at the Nile the admiral had very 

119 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

seriously weakened the sea-power of France. But there 
were Powers then in alUance with France — Russia, Sweden, 
and Denmark — which had formed a confederacy to make 
England respect their rights on the high seas, and whose 
combined fleet, if it should come to the aid of France, might 
prove sufficient to sweep the ships of England from the seas. 
The weakest of these Powers, and the one most firmly allied 
to France, was Denmark, whose fleet, consisting of twenty- 
three ships of the line and about thirty-one frigates and 
smaller vessels, lay at Copenhagen. At any moment this 
powerful fleet might be put at the disposal of Napoleon. 
This possible danger the British Cabinet resolved to avoid. 
A plan was laid to destroy the fleet of the Danes, and on 
the 12th of March, 1801, the British fleet sailed with the 
purpose of putting this resolution into effect. 
Nelson, then bearing the rank of vice-admiral, went with 
the fleet, but only as second in command. Somewhat to 
the chagrin of the English people. Sir Hyde Parker, a brave 
and able seaman, but one whose name history has let sink 
into oblivion, was given chief command — a fact which would 
have insured the failure of the expedition if Nelson had not 
set aside precedent, and put glory before duty. Parker, 
indeed, soon set Nelson chafing by long-drawn-out negotia- 
tions, which proved useless, wasted time, and saved the 
Danes from being taken by surprise. When, on the morning 
of March 30th, the British fleet at length advanced through 
the Sound and came in sight of the Danish line of defence, 
they beheld formidable preparations to meet them. 
Eighteen vessels, including full-rigged ships and hulks, 
were moored in a line nearly a mile and a half in length 
flanked to the northward by two artificial islands mounted 
with nearly seventy heavy cannon and supplied with furnaces 
for heating shot. Near by lay two large block-ships. Across 
the harbour's mouth extended a massive chain, and shore 
batteries commanded the channel. Outside the entrance 
120 



NELSON AND WELLINGTON 

to the harbour were moored two 74-gun ships, a 40-gun 
frigate and some smaller vessels. In addition to these 
defences, which stretched for nearly four miles in length, 
was the difficulty of the channel, always hazardous from its 
shoals, but now rendered more so by false buoys set for 
the purpose of luring the British ships to destruction. 

Defeat of the Danes 

With modern defences — quick-firing guns and steel-clad 
batteries — the enterprise would have been hopeless, but the 
art of defence was then at a far lower level. Nelson, who 
led the van in the 74-gun ship Elephant, gazed on these 
preparations with admiration, but with no evidence of doubt 
as to the result. The British fleet consisted of eighteen 
line-of-battle ships, with a large number of frigates and 
other craft, and with this force and his indomitable spirit, 
he felt confident of breaking these formidable lines. 
At ten o'clock on the morning of April 2nd the battle began, 
two of the British ships running aground almost before a 
gun was fired. At sight of this disaster. Nelson instantly 
changed his plan of sailing, starboarded his helm, and sailed 
in, dropping anchor within a cable's length of the Dannebrog, 
of 62 guns. The other ships followed his example, avoiding 
the shoals on which the Bellona and Russell had grounded, 
and taking position at the close quarters of 100 fathoms 
from the Danish ships. 

A terrific cannonade followed, kept up by both sides with 
unrelenting fury for three hours, and with terrible effect on 
the contesting ships and their crews. At this juncture took 
place an event that has made Nelson's name immortal among 
naval heroes. Admiral Parker, whose flagship lay at a dis- 
tance from the hot fight, but who heard the incessant and 
furious fire and saw the grounded ships flying signals of 
distress, began to fear that Nelson was in serious danger, 
from which it was his duty to withdraw him. At about one 

121 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

o'clock he reluctantly hoisted a signal for the action to cease. 

At this moment Nelson was pacing the quarter-deck of the 

Elephant, inspired with all the fury of the fight. " It is a 

warm business," he said to Colonel Stewart, who was on 

the ship with him ; " and any moment may be the last of [; 

either of us ; but, mark you, I would not for thousands be 

anywhere else." 

As he spoke the flag-lieutenant reported that the signal to 

cease action was shown on the mast-head of the flag-ship 

London, and asked if he should report it to the fleet. 

" No," was the stern answer ; " merely acknowledge it. Is 

our signal for ' close action ' still flying ? " 

" Yes," replied the officer. 

" Then see that you keep it so," said Nelson. 

" Do you know," he suddenly asked Colonel Stewart, who 

was standing at his side, " the meaning of signal No. 39 

shown by Parker's ship ? " 

" No. What does it mean ? " 

*' To leave off action ! " He was silent a moment, then 

burst out, " Now damn me if I do ! " 

Turning to Captain Foley, who stood near him, he said 

with a sly touch of humour : 

'* Foley, you know I have only one eye ; I have a right 

to be blind sometimes." He raised his telescope, applied 

it to his blind eye, and said : " I really do not see the 

signal." 

On roared the guns, overhead on the Elephant still streamed 

the signal for " close action," and still the torrent of British 

balls rent the Danish ships. In half an hour more the fire 

of the Danes was fast weakening. In an hour it had nearly 

ceased. They had suffered terribly, in ships and lives, 

and only the continued fire of the shore batteries now 

kept the contest alive. It was impossible to take possession 

of the prizes, and Nelson sent a flag of truce ashore with a 

letter in which he threatened to burn the vessels, with all 

122 



NELSON AND WELLINGTON 

on board, unless the shore fire was stopped. This threat 
proved effective, the fire ceased, the great battle was at an 
end. 

At four o'clock Nelson went on board the London^ to meet 
the admiral. He was depressed in spirit, and said : " I have 
fought contrary to orders, and may be hanged ; never mind, 
let them." 

There was no danger of this ; Parker had raised the signal 
through fear for Nelson's safety, and now gloried in his 
success, giving congratulations where his subordinate looked 
for blame. The Danes had fought bravely and stubbornly, 
but they had no commander of the spirit and genius of 
Nelson, and were forced to yield to British pluck and en- 
durance. Until June 13th Nelson remained in the Baltic, 
watching the Russian fleet which he might still have to fight. 
Then came orders for his return home, and word reached 
him that he had been created Viscount Nelson for his 
services. 

Nelson at Trafalgar 

There remains to describe the last and most famous of 
Nelson's exploits, that in which he put an end to the sea- 
power of France, by destroying the remainder of her fleet at 
Trafalgar, and met death at the moment of victory. Four 
years had passed since the fight at Copenhagen. During 
much of that time Nelson had kept his fleet on guard off 
Toulon, impatiently waiting until the enemy should ventiu'e 
from that port of refuge. At length, the combined fleet of 
France and Spain, now in alliance, escaped his vigilance, 
and sailed to the West Indies to work havoc in the British 
colonies. He followed them thither in all haste ; and 
subsequently, on their return to France, he chased them 
back across the seas, burning with eagerness to bring them 
to bay. 

On the 19th of October, 1805, the allied fleet put to sea from 

123 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

the harbour of Cadiz, confident that its great strength would 
enable it to meet any force the British had upon the waves. 
Admiral de Villeneuve, with thirty-three ships of the line 
and a considerable number of smaller craft, had orders to 
force the straits of Gibraltar, land troops at Naples, sweep 
British cruisers and commerce from the Mediterranean, and 
then seek the port of Toulon to refit. As it turned out, he 
never reached the straits, his fleet meeting its fate before 
it could leave the Atlantic waves. Nelson had reached the 
coast of Europe again, and was close at hand when the 
doomed ships of the allies appeared. Two swift ocean scouts 
saw the movements, and hastened to Lord Nelson with the 
welcome news that the long-deferred moment was at hand. 
On the 21st, the British fleet came within view, and the 
following signal was set on the mast-head of the flag-ship : 
" The French and Spaniards are out at last ; they out- 
number us in ships and guns and men ; we are on the eve 
of the greatest sea-fight in history." 

On came the ships, great lumbering, picturesque craft, 
strangely unlike the war vessels of to-day. Instead of the 
trim, grim, steel-clad, steam-driven, modern battleship, 
with its revolving turret, and great frowning, breech-loading 
guns, sending their balls through miles of air, those were 
bluff-bowed, ungainly hulks, with bellying sides towering 
like black walls above the sea as if to make the largest mark 
possible for hostile shot, with a great show of muzzle-loading 
guns of small range, while overhead rose lofty spars and 
spreading sails. Ships they were that to-day would be sent 
to the bottom in five minutes of fight, but which, mated 
against others of the same build, were capable of giving a 
gallant account of themselves. 

It was off the shoals of Cape Trafalgar, near the southern 
extremity of Spain, that the two fleets met, and such a 
tornado of fire as has rarely been seen upon the ocean waves 
was poured from their broad and lofty sides. As they came 
124. 



NELSON AND WELLINGTON 

together there floated from the mast-head of the Victory, 
Nelson's flagship, that signal which has become the watch- 
word of the British Isles : " England expects that every man 
will do his duty." 

Nelson wins and dies 

We cannot follow the fortunes of all the vessels in that 
stupendous fray, the most famous sea-fight in history. It 
must serve to follow the Victory in her course, in which Nelson 
eagerly sought to thrust himself into the heart of the fight 
and dare death in his quest for victory. He was not long 
in meeting his wish. Soon he found himself in a nest of 
enemies, eight ships at once pouring their fire upon his 
devoted vessel, which could not bring a gun to bear in return, 
the wind having died away and the ship lying almost motion- 
less upon the waves. 

Before the Victory was able to fire a shot fifty of her men had 
fallen, killed or wounded, and her canvas was pierced and 
rent till it looked like a series of fishing-nets. But the men 
stuck to their guns with unyielding tenacity, and at length 
their opportunity came. A 68-pounder carronade, loaded 
with a round shot and 500 musket-balls, was fired into the 
cabin windows of the Bucentaure, with such terrible effect 
as to disable 400 men and 20 guns, and put the ship prac- 
tically out of the fight. 

The Victory next turned upon the Neptune and the Redoubt- 
able, of the enemy's fleet. The Neptune, not liking her 
looks, kept off, but she collided and locked spars with the 
Redoubtable, and a terrific fight began. On the opposite 
side of the Redoubtable came the British ship T enter aire, 
and opposite it again a second ship of the enemy, the four 
vessels lying bow to bow, and rending one another's sides 
with an incessant hail of balls. On the Victory the gunners 
were ordered to depress their pieces, that the balls should 
not go through and wound the Temeraire beyond. The 

125 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

muzzles of their cannon almost touched the enemy's side, 
and after each shot a bucket of water was dashed into the* 
rent, that they might not set fire to the vessel which they; 
confidently expected to take as a prize. i 

In the midst of the hot contest came the disaster already! 
spoken of. Brass swivels were mounted in the French ship's J 
tops to sweep with their fire the deck of the foe, and as It 
Nelson and Captain Hardy paced together their poop deck, |i 
regardless of danger, the admiral suddenly fell. A ball from l 
one of these guns had reached the noblest mark in the fleet. I 
" They have done for me at last. Hardy," the fallen man i': 
said. if 

" I hope not," said Hardy. |f 

" Yes, my backbone is shot through." jl 

His words were not far from the truth. He never arose f 
from that fatal shot. Yet, dying as he was, his spirit 1 
survived. i 

" I hope none of our ships have struck. Hardy," he feebly ' 
said in a later interval of the fight. > 

" No, my lord. There is small fear of that." } 

" I'm a dead man, Hardy, but I'm glad of what you say. 
Whip them now you've got them. Whip them as they've 
never been whipped before." 

Another hour passed. Hardy came below again to say that 
fourteen or fifteen of the enemy's ships had struck. 
" That's better, though I bargained for twenty," said the 
dying man. " And now, anchor. Hardy — anchor." 
" I suppose, my lord, that Admiral Collingwood will now 
take the direction of affairs." 

" Not while I live," exclaimed Nelson, with a momentary 
return of energy. " Do you anchor. Hardy." 
" Then shall we make the signal, my lord." 
*' Yes, for if I live, I'll anchor." There was silence for a 
moment or two, and then, *' I say, Hardy." 
" Yes ? " 
126 



NELSON AND WELLINGTON 
* Don't have my poor carcass hove overboard," said the 
[ij admiral. " Get what's left of me sent to England, if you 
h can manage it. Good-bye, Hardy. I've done my duty, and 
11 I thank God for it." 

j That was the end. Five minutes later Horatio Nelson, 

[\ England's greatest sea captain, was dead. He had won — 

I not a peerage and Westminster Abbey — victory, and a 

! noble resting-place in St. Paul's Cathedral. 

I CoUingwood did not anchor, but stood out to sea with the 

i eighteen prizes of the hard-fought fray. In the gale that 

! followed many of the results of victory were lost, four of the 

I ships being retaken, some wrecked on shore, some foundering 

at sea, only four reaching British waters in Gibraltar Bay. 

But whatever was lost, Nelson's fame was secure, and the 

victory at Trafalgar is treasured as one of the most famous 

triumphs of British arms. 

The naval battle at Copenhagen, won by Nelson in 1801, 
was repeated six years later by a combined land and naval 
expedition in which Wellington, England's other champion, 
took part. Having learnt that Napoleon was again making 
arrangements to employ the Danish fleet against England, 
the British government, though at peace with Denmark, 
sent a fleet to Copenhagen, with the demand that the Danes 
should hand over the whole of their warships, or alternatively 
suffer the bombardment of their capital. This peremptory 
order was, as was to be expected, scorned by the high-spirited 
little nation, whereupon the British bombarded and captured 
the city, and seized the Danish ships. A battle took place 
on land in which Wellington (then Sir Arthur Wellesley) 
won an easy victory and captured 10,000 men. The whole 
business was a not particularly creditable incident in the 
struggle to defeat Napoleon, and while it has been defended 
on the plea of expediency, it has also been branded as being 
little short of piracy and murder. 

127 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

The Campaign in Portugal 

Not long afterward England prepared to take a serious part 
on land in the desperate contest with Napoleon, and sent a 
British force to Portugal, then held by the French army of 
invasion under Marshal Junot. This force was commanded 
by Sir Arthur Wellesley, and landed August 1st, 1808, at 
Mondego Bay. It was soon joined by General Spencer 
from Cadiz, and the united forces amounted to something 
under 16,000 men. 

The French, far from home and without support, were 
seriously alarmed at this invasion, and justly so, for on August 
21st, Wellesley having been reinforced by the arrival of 
4000 more men, they met with defeat in a sharp battle at 
Vimeiro, and would probably have been forced to surrender 
as prisoners of war had not the troops been called off from 
pursuit by Sir Harry Burrard, who had been sent out to 
supersede Wellesley in command. The end of it all was a 
truce, and a convention under whose terms the French troops 
were permitted to evacuate Portugal with their arms and 
baggage and return to France. This release of Junot from 
a situation which precluded escape so disgusted Wellesley 
that he threw up his command and returned to England. 
Other troops sent out under Sir John Moore and Sir David 
Baird met a superior force of French in Spain, and their 
expedition ended in disaster to themselves, though they 
achieved their object in preventing the seizure of Portugal 
and Andalusia by Napoleon. Moore was killed at Corunna 
in January, 1809, while the troops were embarking to return 
home, and the memory of this affair has been preserved in 
the famous poem, " The Burial of Sir John Moore," from 
which we quote : 

We buried him darkly at dead of night. 

The sod with our bayonets turning. 
By the glimmering moonbeams^ misty light 

And the lanterns dimly burning. 
128 




BRITISH MARINES AT ANTWERP 

Photo Newspaper Illustrations, Ltd. 



■ NELSON AND WELLINGTON 

I In April, 1809, Wellesley, now chief in command, returned 

I to Portugal to begin a struggle which was to continue 

iF until the fall of Napoleon. There were at that time 

|! about 20,000 British soldiers at Lisbon, while the French 

I had in Spain more than 300,000 men, under such 

generals as Ney, Soult, and Victor. The British, indeed, 

were aided by a large number of natives in arms, but 

these, though of service as guerillas, were almost useless 

I in regular warfare. 

Oporto and Talavera 

Wellesley was at Lisbon. Oporto, 170 miles north, was held 

by Marshal Soult, who had recently taken it. Without delay 

j Wellington marched thither, and drove the French outposts 
across the river Douro. But in their retreat they burned 
the bridge of boats across the river, seized every boat they 
could find, and rested in security, defying their foes to 
cross. Soult, veteran officer though he was, fancied that 
he had disposed of Wellesley, and massed near the 
mouth of the river, in which quarter alone he looked 
for an attack. 

He did not know his antagonist. A few skiffs were secured, 
and a small party of British was sent across the stream. 
The French attacked them, but they held their ground till 
some others joined them, and by the time Soult was informed 
of the danger Wellesley had landed a large force, and con- 
trolled a good supply of boats. A battle followed on the 
12th of May, in which Oporto was taken and the French 

^ routed and forced to retreat. But the only road by which 
their artillery or baggage could be moved had been seized 
by General Beresford, and was strongly held. In consequence 
Soult was forced to abandon all his wagons and cannon and 
over 5000 of his troops, and make his escape by mountain 
roads into Spain. 

This signal victory was followed by another on July 27th, 

I 129 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

1809, when Wellesley, with 20,000 British soldiers and about 11 
40,000 Spanish alhes, met a French army of 60,000 men at 
Talavera in Spain. The battle that succeeded lasted two 
days. The brunt of it fell upon the British, the Spaniards 
proving of little use, yet it ended in the defeat of the French, 
who retired unmolested, the British being too exhausted to 
pursue. 

The tidings of this victory were received with the utmost 
enthusiasm in England. It served to show that British |! 
valour could win battles against Napoleon on land as well 
as on sea. Wellesley received the warmest thanks of the 
king, and, like Nelson, was rewarded by being raised to the 
peerage, being given the titles of Baron Douro of Wellesley, 
and Viscount Wellington. e^ 

The French driven from Portugal 

Men and supplies just then would have served Wellington 
better than titles. With strong support he could have 
marched on and taken Madrid. As it was, he felt obliged 
to retire upon the fortress of Badajoz, near the frontier of 
Portugal. Spain was swarming with French soldiers, who 
were gradually collected there until they exceeded 350,000 
men. Of these 80,000, under the command of Massena, 
were sent to act against the British. Before this strong 
force Wellington found it necessary to draw back, and the 
frontier fortresses of Almeida and Ciudad Rodrigo were 
taken by the French. Wellington's first stand was on the 
heights of Busaco, September, 1810. Here, with about 
25,000 British troops and an equal number of Portuguese, 
he withstood all the attacks of the French, who in the end 
were forced to withdraw. Massena then tried to gain the 
road between Lisbon and Oporto, whereupon Wellington 
quickly retreated toward Lisbon. 

The British forces had during the winter been very usefully 
employed. The road by which Lisbon must be approached 
130 



NELSON AND WELLINGTON 
passes the village of Torres Vedras, and here three strong 
lines of earthworks — the famous ' Lines of Torres Vedras ' — 
were constructed, the outer one being nearly thirty miles in 
length, stretching over the heights from the sea to the 
Tagus, and effectually securing Lisbon against attack. 
These works had been built with such secrecy and despatch 
that the French were quite ignorant of their existence, and 
Massena, marching in confidence upon the Portuguese 
capital, was amazed and chagrined on finding before him 
this formidable barrier. 

The lines were strongly defended, and all his efforts to take 
them proved in vain. He then tried to reduce the British 
by famine, but in this he was equally baffled, food being 
poured into Lisbon from the sea. He tried by a feigned 
retreat to draw the British from their works, but this 
stratagem failed of effect, and for four months longer the 
armies remained inactive. At length the exhaustion of 
provisions throughout the country made a real retreat of the 
French necessary, and Massena withdrew across the Spanish 
frontier, halting near Salamanca. Of the proud force with 
which Napoleon proposed to " drive the British leopards 
into the sea," more than half had vanished in this luckless 
campaign. 

Wellington in Spain 

But though the French army had withdrawn from Portugal, 

the frontier fortresses were still in French hands, and of 

these Almeida, near the borders, was the first to be attacked 

by Wellington's forces. Massena advanced with 50,000 men 

to its relief, and the two armies met at Fuentes-de-Ofioro, 

May 4th, 1811. The French made attacks on the 5th and 6th, 

but were each time repulsed, and on the 8th Massena 

retreated, Almeida falling into the hands of Wellington 

three days later. 

Another battle of the most sanguinary character was fought 

lai 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

in front of Badajoz, the total loss of the two armies being 
15,000 killed and wounded. For a time the British seemed 
threatened with inevitable defeat, but the fortune of the 
day was turned into victory by a desperate charge. Sub- 
sequently Ciudad Rodrigo was attacked, and was carried 
by storm in January, 1812. Wellington then returned to 
Badajoz, which was also taken by storm on the 7th of April 
after a desperate assault following a three weeks' siege, in 
which the victors lost 5000 men, a number exceeding that 
of the whole French garrison. 

Madrid occupied 

These continued French reverses were seriously out of 
consonance with the usual experiences of Napoleon's armies. 
He was furious with his marshals, blaming them severely, 
and might have taken their place in the struggle with 
Wellington but that his fatal march to Russia was about to 
begin. Badajoz taken, Wellington advanced into Spain, 
and on July 22nd encountered the French army under 
Marmont before the famous old town of Salamanca. The 
battle, one of the most stubbornly contested in which Wel- 
lington had yet been engaged, ended in the repulse of the 
French, and on August 1 2th the British army marched into 
Madrid, the capital of Spain, from which King Joseph 
Bonaparte had just made his second flight. 
Wellington's next effort was a siege of the strong fortress of 
Burgos. This proved the one fruitless effort in his military 
career ; his siege-train was insufficient and the transport for his 
guns faulty, and he was obliged to raise the siege after over 
four weeks of effort. In the following year he was strongly 
reinforced, and with an army numbering nearly 200,000 
men, inclusive of Spanish and Portuguese allies, he marched 
on the retreating enemy, meeting them at Vittoria, near the 
boundary of France and Spain, on June 21st, 1813. The 
French were for the first time in this war in a minority. 
182 



NELSON AND WELLINGTON 

They were also heavily encumbered with baggage, the spoils 
of their occupation of Spain. The battle ended in a complete 
victory for WeiUngton, who captured 157 cannon and a vast 
quantity of plunder, including the spoils of Madrid and of 
the palace of the kings of Spain, and a million sterling in cash. 
The French were now everywhere on the retreat. Soult, 
after a vigorous effort to drive the British from the passes 
of the Pyrenees, withdrew, and Wellington and his army at 
length stood on the soil of France. A victory over Soult 
at Nivelle, and a series of successes in the following spring, 
ended the long Peninsular War, the abdication of Napoleon 
closing the terrible drama of battle. In the whole six years 
of struggle Wellington had not once been defeated on the 
battle-field. 

His military career had not yet ended. His great day of 
o-lory was still to come, that in which he was to meet Napoleon 
himself on the field of Waterloo when, for the first time in 
the history of the great Corsican, the army of the latter 
was to be driven back in utter rout. 

A year or more had passed since the events just narrated. 
In June, 1815, Welhngton found himself at the head of an 
army some 106,000 strong, encamped around Brussels, the 
capital of Belgium. It was a mingled group of British, 
Dutch, Belgian, Hanoverian, German, and other troops, 
hastily got together, and many of them not safely to be 
depended upon. Of the British, numbers had never been 
under fire. Marshal Bliicher, with an equal force of Prussian 
troops, was near at hand ; the two forces prepared to meet 
the rapidly advancing Napoleon. 

There followed a defeat of Bliicher at Ligny, and an attack 
on Wellington at Quatre Bras. On the evening of the 17th 
the army, retreating from Quatre Bras, encamped on the 
historic field of Waterloo in a drenching rain, that turned the 
roads into streams, the fields into swamps. All night long 
the rain came down, the soldiers enduring the flood with 

133 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

what patience they could. In the morning it ceased, fires 
were kindled and active preparations began for the terrible 
struggle at hand. 

Here ran a shallow valley, bounded by two ridges the 
northern of which was occupied by the British troops,' 'some 
68,000 strong wh.le Napoleon posted his army" about 
66 000, a^ong the southern ridge. Napoleon was a good deal 
better oi^ m guns than Wellington, the respective numbers 
bemg 242 to 156 On the slope before the British centre 
was the white-walled farm-house of La Haye Sainte, and in 
front of the right wing the chateau of Hougomont, with its 
various stout stone buildings. Both of these were occupied, 
by men of Wellington's army, and became leading points in 
the struggle of theiday. 

It was nine o'clock in the morning before the vanguard of 
the French forces made its appearance on the crest of the 
southern ridge. By half-past ten the whole army-infantrv 
cavalry and artillery-lay encamped in full sight, and at 
about ten minutes to twelve came the first attack of that 
remarkable day, during which the French waged an aggressive 
battle, and the British stood on the defensive 
This first attack was directed against Hougomont, around 
which there was a desperate contest. At this point the 
affray went on, in successive waves of attack and repulse 
all day long; yet still the British held the buildings, and all 
the fierce valour of the French failed to gain them a foot- 
nold witnm. 

About two o'clock came a second attack, preceded by a 
frightful cannonade upon the British left and centre Four 
massive columns, led by D'Erlon, poured steadily forward 
straight for the ridge, sweeping upon and around the farm- 
stead of La Haye Sainte, but met at every point by the sabres 
and bayonets of the British hnes. Nearly 24,000 men took 
part m this great movement, the struggle lasting more than 
an hour before the French staggered back in repulse. Then 



NELSON AND WELLINGTON 

from the French Unes came a stupendous cavalry charge, 
led by the redoubtable Ney himself, the massive columns 
composed of no less than forty squadrons of cuirassiers and 
dragoons, filHng almost all the space between Hougomont 
and La Haye Sainte as they poured like a torrent upon the 
British lines. Torn by artillery, rent by musketry ; checked, 
reformed; charging again, and again driven back; they 
expended their strength and their lives on the infantry 
squares that held their ground with the grimmest obstinacy. 
Once more, now strengthened by the cavalry of the Imperial 
Guard, they came on to carnage and death, shattermg 
themselves against those unyielding squares, in the end only 
to be repulsed with frightful loss. 

The day was now well advanced, it being half-past four m 
the afternoon ; the British had been fearfully shaken by the 
furious efforts of the French ; when, emerging from the 
woods of Fischermont, appeared the head of a column of 
fresh troops. Who were they? Bliicher's Prussians, or 
Grouchy's pursuing French ? On the answer to this question 
depended the issue of that terrible day. The question was 
soon decided ; they were the Prussians ; the hearts of the 
British beat high with hope and those of the French sank 
low in despair, for these fresh troops could not fail to decide 
the fate of that mighty field of battle. Soon the final 
struggle came. Napoleon, driven to desperation, launched 
his grand reserve corps, the far-famed Imperial Guard, upon 
his enemies. On they came, with Ney at their head ; on 
them poured a terrible torrent of flame ; from a distance 
the front ranks appeared stationary, but only because they 
met a death-line as they came, and fell in bleeding rows. 
Then came the sharp order from Wellington, " Up, Guards ! 
and with a wild charge the British Foot Guards took them 
in flank, and soon all was over. " The Guard dies, but 
never surrenders," said the commander of the Emperor s 
Imperial Guard. Die they did, few of them surviving to 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 
take part in that mad flight which swept Napoleon from the 
field and closed the fatal day of Waterloo. England had 
won the great victory, now century-old, and Wellington 
from that day of triumph took rank with the greatest of 
British heroes. 



136 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE DECLINE AND FALL OF 

NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 

Dawn of a New Era in Europe 

The Kings and People of Spain : The French defeated 
and Napoleon in Command : The Triumph of 
Wellington : Napoleon's Fatal Enterprise : The 
Grand Army in Russia : Smolensk on Fire : The 
Fight at Borodino : Moscow occupied by the French : 
The Terror of Flame : Napoleon's Dread Dilemma : 
Winter in Full Fury : The Remnant of the Grand 
Army : Europe rises against the Corsican : Napoleon's 
Last Important Victory : The Last Stand at Leipzig : 
Napoleon exiled to Elba : The Hundred Days : End 
of Napoleon's Career 
AMBITION, unrestrained by caution, uncontrolled by 
moderation, has its inevitable end. An empire built upon 
military victory, trusting solely to military genius, prepares 
for itself the elements of its overthrow. This fact Napoleon 
was to learn. At the outset of his career he opposed a new 
art of war to the obsolete one of his enemies, and his path 
to empire was over the corpses of slaughtered armies and the 
ruins of fallen kingdoms. But year by year his foes learned 
his art ; in war after war their resistance grew stronger, each 
successive victory was won with more difficulty and at 
greater cost ; and finally, at the crossing of the Danube, the 
energy and genius of Napoleon met their equal, and the 
standards of France, for the first time under Napoleon's 
leadership, went back in defeat. It was the tocsin of fate. 
His career of victory had culminated. From that day its 
decline began. 

The Kings and People of Spain 

It is interesting to find that the first effective check to 
Napoleon's victorious progress came from one of the weaker 

137 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

nations of Europe, a power which the conqueror contemned 
and thought to move as one of the minor pieces in his game 
of empire. Spain at that time had reached almost the 
lowest stage of its decline. It had a weak-minded king ; 
the heir to the throne was little better ; Godoy, the ' Prince 
of the Peace,' the monarch's favourite, was an ambitious 
intriguer. Napoleon's armies had invaded Portugal and 
forced its monarch to embark for Brazil, his American 
domain. A similar movement was attempted in Spain. 
This country the base Godoy betrayed to Napoleon, and 
then, frightened by the consequences of his dishonourable 
intrigues, sought to escape with the king and court to the 
Spanish dominions in America. His scheme was prevented 
by an outbreak of the people of Madrid, and Napoleon, 
ambitiously designing to add the peninsula to his empire, 
induced both Charles IV and his son Ferdinand to resign 
from the throne. He replaced them by his brother, Joseph 
Bonaparte, who, on June 6th, 1808, was named King of Spain. 
Hitherto Napoleon had dealt with emperors and kings, 
whose overthrow carried with it that of their people. In 
Spain he had a new element, the people itself, to deal with. 
The very weakness of Spain proved its strength. Deprived 
of their native monarchs, and given a king not of their own 
choice, the whole people rose in rebellion and defied Napoleon 
and his armies. An insurrection broke out in Madrid in 
which 1200 French soldiers were slain. Juntas were formed 
in different cities, which assumed the control of affairs and 
refused obedience to the new king. From end to end of 
Spain the people sprang to arms and began a guerilla warfare 
which the troops of Napoleon sought in vain to quell. The 
bayonets of the French were able to sustain King Joseph 
and his court in Madrid, but proved powerless to put down 
the people. Each city, each district, became a separate 
centre of war ; each had to be conquered separately, and the 
strength of the troops was consumed in petty contests with 
138 



FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 

a people who avoided open warfare and dealt in surprises 
and scattered fights, in which victory counted for little and 
needed to be repeated a thousand times. 

The French defeated and Napoleon in Command 
The Spanish did more than this. They put an army in the 
field which was defeated by the French at Valladohd on 
July 13th; but they revenged themselves brilhantly at 
Baylen, in Andalusia, four days later, when General Dupont, 
with a corps 23,000 strong, was surrounded in a position 
from which there was no escape, and forced to surrender 
himself and his men as prisoners of war. 
This undisciplined people had gained a victory over France 
which none of the Great Powers of Europe could match. 
The Spaniards were filled with enthusiasm ; King Joseph 
hastily abandoned Madrid, and the French armies retreated 

across the Ebro. 

Soon encouraging news came from Portugal. The toghsli, 
hitherto mainly confining themselves to naval warfare and 
to aiding the enemies of Napoleon with money, had landed 
an army in that country under Sir Arthur Wellesley (after- 
ward the Duke of Wellington) and other generals, which 
would have captured the entire French army had it not 
capitulated on the terms of a free passage to France. For 
the time being the peninsula of Spain and Portugal was tree 
from Napoleon's power. 

The humihating reverse to his arms called Napoleon himselt 
into the field. In November he marched at the head of an 
army into Spain, defeated the insurgents wherever met 
entered Madrid early in the following month, and reinstated 
his brother on the throne. The city of Saragossa, which 
made one of the most heroic defences known m history, was 
taken, and the advance of the British armies was checked 
And yet, though Spain was widely overrun, the people did 
not yield. The junta at Cadiz defied the French, the 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

guerillas continued in the field, and the invaders found 
themselves baffled by an enemy who was felt oftener than 
seen. 

The Austrian war called away the emperor and the bulk of I; 
his troops, but after it was over he filled Spain with his [ 
veterans, increasing the strength of the army there to 300,000 ' 
men, under his ablest generals, Soult, Massena, Ney, Mar- t 
mont, Macdonald, and others. They marched through Spain |. 
from end to end, yet, though they held all the important |j 
points, the people refused to submit, but from their mountain | 
fastnesses kept up a petty and harassing warfare. 

The Triumph of Wellington 

We have seen that in 1811 Massena invaded Portugal, where 
Wellington with an English army awaited him behind the 
strong fines of Torres Vedras, which the ever- victorious French 
sought in vain to carry by assault. Massena was compelled to 
retreat, and Soult, by whom the emperor replaced him, was 
no more successful against the shrewd English general. 
At length Spain won the reward of her patriotic defence. 
The Russian campaign of 1812 compefied the emperor to 
deplete his army in that country, and Wellington came to 
the aid of the patriots, defeated Marmont at Salamanca, 
entered Madrid, and forced King Joseph once more to flee 
from his unquiet throne. 

For a brief interval he was restored by the French army 
under Soult and Suchet, but the disasters of the Russian 
campaign brought the reign of King Joseph to a final end, 
and forced him to give up the pretence of reigning over a 
people who were unflinchingly determined to have no king 
but one of their own choice. The story of the Spanish war 
ends in 1813, when Wellington defeated the French at 
Vittoria, pursued them across the Pyrenees, and set foot 
upon the soil of France. 

140 



FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 
Napoleon's Fatal Enterprise 

While these events were taking place in Spam the power ot 
Napoleon was being shattered in the north 
On the banks of the Niemen, a river that flows between 
Prussia and Poland, there gathered near the end of June 
1812 450 000 of the immense army of more than 600,000 
men that Napoleon had gathered together for this campaign, 
attended by an enormous multitude of non-eombatants, 
their purpose being the invasion of the empire of Russia. 
Of this great army, made up of troops from half the nations 
of Europe, there reappeared six months later on that broad 
stream about 20,000, almost all that were left of that 
stupendous host. The remainder had perished on the desert 
soil or in the frozen rivers of Russia, few of then, surviving 
as prisoners in Russian hands. Such was the character of 
the dread catastrophe that broke the power of the mighty 
conqueror and deUvered Europe from his autocratic grasp 
The breach of relations between Napoleon and Alexander 
was largely due to the arbitrary and high-handed proceedings 
of the French Emperor, who was accustomed to deal with 
the map of Europe as if it represented his private dommn. 
He offended Alexander by enlarging the duchy of Warsaw 
-one of his own creations-and deeply incensed him by 
extending the French empire to the shores of the Baltic, 
thus robbing of his dominion the Duke of Oldenburg a near 
rdative of Alexander. On the other hand the Tsar declined 
any longer to submit the commercial interests of his country 
to the rigour of Napoleon's ' continental blockade, and 
made a new tariff which interfered with the importation of 
French and favoured that of British goods. These ^^^ 
in which Alexander chose to place the interests of his country 
in advance of those of Napoleon were as ^"^^ *° *^^ 
haughty soul of the latter, and he determ^ined to punish 
the Russian autocrat as he had done the other monarchs of 
Europe. j^^ 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

For a year or two before war was declared Napoleon had'^ 
been preparing for the greatest struggle of his life, adding 
to his army by the most rigorous methods of conscription f 
and collecting great magazines of war material, though still i 
professing friendship for Alexander. The latter, however, fi 
was not deceived. He also prepared for the threatened | 
struggle, made peace with the Turks, and formed an alliance I' 
with Bernadotte, the Crown Prince of Sweden, who had good I' 
reason to be offended with his former lord and master. 
Napoleon, on his side, forced Prussia and Austria to ally \ 
themselves with him, and added to his army large con- 
tingents of troops from the German states. At length the 
great conflict was ready to begin between the two autocrats, 
the Emperors of the East and the West, and Europe re- 
sounded with the tread of marching feet. 

The Grand Army in Russia 

In the closing days of June the Grand Army crossed the 
Niemen, its last regiments reaching Russian soil by the 
opening of July. Napoleon, with the advance, pressed on 
to Wilna, the capital of Lithuania. On all sides the Poles 
rose in enthusiastic hope, and joined the ranks of the man 
whom they looked upon as their deliverer. Onward went 
the great army, marching with Napoleon's accustomed 
rapidity, seeking to prevent the concentration of the divided 
Russian forces, and advancing daily deeper into the dominions 
of the Tsar. 

The French Emperor had his plans well laid. He proposed 
to meet the Russians in force on some interior field, win 
from them one of his accustomed brilliant victories, crush 
them with his enormous columns, and force the dismayed 
Tsar to sue for peace on his own terms. But plans need 
two sides for their consummation, and the Russian leaders 
did not propose to lose the advantage given them by nature. 
On and on went Napoleon, deeper and deeper into that 



FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 

desolate land, but the great army he was to crush failed to 
loom up before him, the broad plains still spread onward 
empty of soldiers, and disquiet began to assail his imperious 
soul as he found the Russian hosts keeping constantly 
beyond his reach, luring him ever more deeply into their 
vast territory. In truth Barclay de Tolly, the Tsar's chief 
in command, had adopted a policy which was sure to prove 
fatal to Napoleon's purpose, that of persistently avoiding 
battle and keeping the French in pursuit of a fleeting will- 
o'-the-wisp, while their army wasted away from natural 
disintegration in that inhospitable clim.e. 
He was correct in his views. Desertion, illness, the death of 
young recruits who could not endure the hardships of a 
rapid march in the severe heat of midsummer, began their 
fatal work. Napoleon's plan of campaign proved a total 
failure. The Russians would not wait to be defeated, and 
each day's march opened a wider circle of operations before 
the advancing host, whom the interminable plain filled with 
a sense of hopelessness, and increased their already over- 
long lines of communication. The heat was overpowering, 
and men dropped from the ranks as rapidly as though on a 
field of battle. At Vitebsk the army was inspected, and the 
emperor was alarmed at the enormous decrease in his forces. 
The whole army was reduced by one-third, and the remaining 
two-thirds were by no means the efficient fighting material 
that they had been when they set out on this perilous 
adventure ; some of the divisions had lost more than a 
fourth of their men, in every corps the ranks were depleted, 
and reinforcements already had to be set on the march. 
Onward they went, here and there bringing the Russians to 
bay in a minor engagement, but nowhere meeting them in 
numbers, and taking not a single gun. Europe waited in 
vain for tidings of a great battle, and Napoleon began to 
look upon his proud army with a feeling akin to despair. 
He was not alone in his eagerness for battle. Some of the 

143 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 1 

high-spirited Russians, among them Prince Bagration, were 
as eager, but as yet the prudent pohcy of Barclay de Tolly 
prevailed, and the armies of Russia kept beyond the reach 
of their foes. 

Smolensk on Fire 

On the 14th of August, the army crossed the Dnieper, and 
marched, now 175,000 strong, upon Smolensk, which was 
reached on the 16th. This ancient and venerable town was 
dear to the Russians, and they made their first determined 
stand in its defence, fighting behind its walls all day of the 
17th. Finding that the assault was likely to succeed, they 
set fire to the town at night and withdrew, leaving to 
the French a city in flames. The bridge was cut, the 
Russian army was beyond pursuit on the road to Moscow, 
nothing had been gained by the struggle but the ruins of 
a town. 

The situation was growing desperate. For two months the 
army had advanced without a battle of importance, and was 
now in the heart of Russia, reduced to half its numbers, 
while the hoped-for victory seemed as far off as ever. And 
the short summer of the north was nearing its end. The 
severe winter of that climate would soon begin. Dis- 
couragement everywhere prevailed. Efforts were made by 
Napoleon's marshals to induce him to give up the losing game 
and retreat, but he was not to be moved from his purpose. 
Stubborn adherence to his plans was a marked phase of his 
character. A march on Moscow, the old capital of the 
empire, he felt sure would bring the Russians to bay. Once 
within its walls he hoped to dictate terms of peace. 

The Fight at Borodino 

Napoleon was soon to have the battle for which his soul 
craved. Barclay's prudent and successful policy was not 
to the taste of many of the Russian leaders, and the Tsar 

144 



FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 

was at length induced by popular clamour to replace him 
by fiery old Kutusoff, who had commanded the Russians at 
Austerlitz. A change in the situation was soon apparent. 
On the 5th of September the French army, now reduced to 
130,000 men, debouched upon the plain of Borodino, on the 
road to Moscow, and the emperor saw with joy the Russian 
army drawn up to dispute the way to the ' Holy City ' of 
the Muscovites. The dark columns of troops were strongly 
entrenched behind a small stream, frowning rows of guns 
threatened the advancing foe, and hope returned to the 
emperor's heart. He felt sure that he now had the enemy 
within his grasp and that victory would turn the situation 
in his favour. 

Battle began early on the 7th, and continued all day long, 
the Russians defending their ground with unyielding stub- 
bornness, the French attacking their positions with all their 
old impetuous dash and energy. Murat and Ney were the 
heroes of the day. Again and again the emperor was 
implored to send the Imperial Guard and overwhelm the 
foe, but he persistently refused. " If there is a second battle 
to-morrow," he said, " what troops shall I fight it with ? 
It is not when one is eight hundred leagues from home that 
he risks his last resource." 

The Guard was not needed. On the following day Kutusoff 
was obliged to withdraw, leaving no less than 40,000 dead 
or wounded on the field. Among the killed was the brave 
Prince Bagration. The retreat was an orderly one. Napo- 
leon found it expedient not to pursue. His own losses 
aggregated over 30,000, among them an unusual number of 
generals, of whom ten were killed and thirty-nine wounded. 
Three days proved a brief time to attend to the burial of 
the dead and the needs of the wounded. This engagement 
—which neither side can be said to have really won— is in 
England usually called the Battle of Borodino, but Napoleon 
named it the Battle of the Moskwa, from the river that 

K 145 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

crossed the plain, and honoured Ney, as the hero of the day, ! 
with the title of Prince of Moskwa. [ 

Moscow OCCUPIED BY THE FrENCH i 

On the 15th the Holy City was reached. A shout of " Mos- I 
cow ! Moscow ! " went up from the whole army as they n 
gazed on the gilded cupolas and magnificent buildings of 
that famous city, brilliantly lit up by the afternoon sun. 
Twenty miles in circumference, dazzling with the green of 
its copper domes and its minarets of yellow stone, the towers 
and walls of the famous Kremlin rising above its palaces and 
gardens, it seemed like some fabled city of the Arabian Nights. 
With renewed enthusiasm the troops rushed toward it, while 
whole regiments of Poles fell on their knees, thanking God for 
delivering this stronghold of their oppressors into their hands. 
It was an empty city into which the French marched ; its 
streets deserted, its dwellings silent. Its busy life had 
vanished like a morning mist. Kutusoff had marched his 
army through it and left it to his foes. The inhabitants 
were gone, with what they could carry of their treasures. 
The city, hke the empire, seemed likely to be a barren 
conquest, for here, as elsewhere, the policy of retreat, so 
fatal to Napoleon's hopes, was put into effect. The emperor 
took up his abode in the Kremlin, within whose ample 
precincts he found quarters for the whole Imperial Guard. 
The remainder of the army was stationed at chosen points 
about the city. Provisions were abundant, the houses and 
stores of the city being amply supplied. The army enjoyed 
a luxury of which it had been long deprived, while Napoleon 
confidently awaited a triumphant result from his victorious 
progress. 

The Terror of Flame 

A terrible disenchantment awaited the invader. Early on 

the following morning word was brought him that Moscow 

146 



FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 

was on fire. Flames arose from houses that had not been 
inspected. It was evidently a premeditated conflagration. 
The fire burst out at once in a dozen quarters, and a high 
wind carried the flames from house to house, from church 
to church, from street to street. Russians were captured 
who boasted that they had fired the town under orders and 
they met death unflinchingly. The governor had left them 
behind for this fell purpose. The poorer people, many of 
whom had remained hidden in their huts, now fled in terror, 
taking with them what cherished possessions they could 
carry. Soon the city was a seething mass of flames. 
The Kremlin did not escape. A tower burst into flames. 
In vain the Imperial Guard sought to check the fire. No 
hose, no fire-engines were to be found in the town ; all had 
been removed by the fleeing inhabitants. Napoleon hastily 
left the palace and sought shelter outside the city, where 
for five days the flames ran riot, feeding on ancient palaces 
and destroying untold treasures. Then the wind sank and 
rain poured upon the smouldering embers. The great city 
had become a desolate heap of smoking ruins, into which 
the soldiers daringly stole back in search of valuables that 
might have escaped the flames. 

This frightful conflagration was not due to the Tsar, but to 
Count Rostoptchin, the governor of Moscow, who was 
subsequently driven from Russia by the execrations of those 
he had ruined. But it served as a proclamation to Europe 
of the implacable resolution of the Muscovites and their 
determination to resist to the bitter end, and it robbed 
Napoleon of what might have been the fruits of his victory. 

Napoleon's Dread Dilemma 

Napoleon, sadly troubled in soul, sent letters to Alexander, 
suggesting the advisability of peace. Alexander left his 
letters unanswered. Until October 18th the emperor waited, 
hoping against hope, willing to grant almost any terms for 

147 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

an opportunity to escape from the fatal trap into which his 
overweening ambition had led him. No answer came from 
the Tsar. He was inflexible in his determination not to 
treat with these invaders of his country. In deep dejection 
Napoleon at length gave the order to retreat— too late, as it 
was to prove, since the terrible Russian winter was ready 
to descend upon them in all its frightful strength. 
The army that left that ruined city was a sadly depleted 
one ; it had been reduced to 103,000 men, and many of 
these were reinforcements which had arrived during the early 
days of its occupation. The army followers had also become 
greatly decreased in numbers, but still formed a host, among 
them delicate ladies, thinly clad, who gazed with terrified 
eyes from their travelling carriages upon the dejected troops. 
Articles of plunder of all kinds were carried by the soldiers, 
even the wounded in the wagons lying amid the spoil they 
had gathered. The Kremlin was destroyed by the rear- 
guard, under Napoleon's orders, and over the drear Russian 
plains the retreat began. 

It was no sooner under way than the Russian policy changed. 
From retreating the troops everywhere advanced, seeking to 
harass and cut off stragglers, and utterly to destroy the 
fugitive army if possible. A stand was made at the town of 
Malojaroslavetz, where a sanguinary combat took place. 
The French captured the town, but ten thousand men lay 
dead or wounded on the field, while Napoleon was forced to 
abandon his projected line of march, and to take for his 
return the route he had followed in his advance on Moscow. 
From the bloody scene of contest the retreat continued, the 
battle-field of Borodino being crossed, and by the middle 
of November the ruins of Smolensk were reached. 

Winter in full Fury 

Winter was now upon the French in all its fury. The food 

brought from Moscow had been exhausted. Famine, frost, 

148 



FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 

and fatigue had proved more fatal than the bullets of the 
enemy. In fourteen days after the departure from Moscow 
the army lost 43,000 men, leaving it only 60,000 strong. 
On reaching Smolensk it numbered but 42,000, having lost 
18,000 more within eight days. The unarmed followers are 
said to have still numbered 60,000. Worse still, the supply 
of arms and provisions ordered to be ready at Smolensk 
was in great part lacking, only rye-flour and rice being found. 
Starvation threatened to aid the winter cold in the destruc- 
tion of the feeble remnant of the ' Grand Army.' 
Onward went the despairing host, at every step harassed by 
the Russians, who followed like wolves on their path. Ney, 
in command of the rear-guard, was the hero of the retreat. 
Cut off by the Russians from the main column, and ap- 
parently lost beyond hope, he made a wonderful escape by 
crossing the Dnieper on the ice during the night and rejoining 
his companions, who had given up the hope of ever seeing 
him again. 

On the 26th the ice-cold river Beresina was reached, destined 
to be the most terrible point on the whole dreadful march. 
Two bridges were thrown in all haste across the stream, and 
most of the men under arms crossed, but 18,000 stragglers 
fell into the hands of the enemy. How many were trodden 
to death in the press or were crowded from the bridge into 
the icy river cannot be told. It is said that when spring 
thawed the ice nearly 30,000 bodies were found preserved 
in it, and burned on the banks of the stream. A mere 
fragment of the great army remained alive. Ney was the 
last man to crosslthat frightful river. 

The Remnant of the Grand Army 

On the 3rd of December Napoleon issued a bulletin which has 
become famous, telling the anxious nations of Europe that 
the Grand Army was annihilated, but the emperor was safe. 
Two days afterward he surrendered the command of the 

149 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

army to Murat and set out at all speed for Paris, where his 
presence was indispensably necessary. On the 13th of 
December some 20,000 haggard and staggering men, almost 
too weak to hold the arms to which they still despairingly 
clung, recrossed the Niemen ; and of these only about one- 
third had been with the Grand Army when it had passed \ 
in such magnificent strength and with such abounding 
resources less than six months before. It was the greatest and 
most astounding disaster in the military history of the world. 
This tale of terror may be fitly closed by a dramatic story 
told by General Mathieu Dumas, who, while sitting at 
breakfast in Gumbinnen, saw enter a haggard man, with 
long beard, blackened face, and red and glaring eyes. 
" I am here at last," he exclaimed. " Don't you know me ? " 
" No," said the general. " Who are you ? " 
" I am the rear-guard of the Grand Army. I have fired the 
last musket-shot on the bridge of Kovno. I have thrown 
the last of our arms into the Niemen, and came hither 
through the woods. I am Marshal Ney." 
" This is the beginning of the end," said the shrewd Talley- 
rand, when Napoleon set out on his Russian campaign. 
The remark proved true, the disaster in Russia had loosened 
the grasp of the Corsican on the throat of Europe, and the 
nations, which hated as much as they feared their ruthless 
enemy, made active preparations for his overthrow. While 
he was in France, actively gathering men and materials for 
a renewed struggle, signs of an implacable hostility began 
to manifest themselves on all sides in the surrounding states. 
Belief in the invincibility of Napoleon had vanished, and 
little fear was entertained of the raw conscripts whom he 
was forcing into the ranks to replace his slaughtered veterans. 

Europe rises against the Corsican 

Prussia was the first to break the bonds of alliance with 

France, to ally itself with Russia, and to call its people to 

150 



FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 

arms against their oppressor. They responded with the 
utmost enthusiasm, men of all ranks and all professions 
hastened to their country's defence, and the noble and the 
peasant stood side by side as privates in the same regiment. 
In March, 1813, the French left Berlin, which was imme- 
diately occupied by the Russian and Prussian alKes. The 
King of Saxony, however, refused to desert Napoleon, to 
whom he owed many favours and whose anger he feared ; 
and his realm, in consequence, became the theatre of the war. 
Across the opposite borders of this kingdom poured the 
hostile hosts, meeting in battle at Liitzen (May 2nd) and 
Bautzen (May 21st). Here the French held the field, 
driving their adversaries across the Oder, but not in the wild 
dismay seen at Jena. A new spirit had been aroused in the 
Prussian heart, and they left thousands of their enemies 
dead upon the field. On the field of Bautzen Napoleon saw 
with grief the death of his especial friend and favourite, 
Duroc. 

A truce followed, which the French Emperor utilized in 
gathering fresh levies. Prince Metternich, the able Chan- 
cellor of the Austrian empire, sought to make peace, but 
his demands upon Napoleon were much greater than the 
proud conqueror was prepared to grant, and he decisively 
refused to cede the territory held by him as the spoils of war. 
His refusal brought upon him another powerful foe, Austria 
allied itself with his enemies, formally declaring war on 
August 12th, 1813, and an active and terrible struggle began. 

Napoleon's Last Important Victory 
Napoleon's army was rapidly concentrated at Dresden, 
upon whose works of defence the allied army precipitated 
itself in a vigorous assault on August 26th. Its strength 
was wasted against the vigorously held fortifications of the 
city, and in the end the gates were flung open and the serried 
battalions of the Old Guard appeared in battle array. From 

151 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

every gate of the city these tried soldiers poured, and 
rushed upon the unprepared hosts of the aUies. Before this 
resistless charge the enemy recoiled, retreating with heavy 
loss to the heights beyond the city, and leaving Napoleon 
master of the field. 

On the next morning the battle was resumed. The allies, 
strongly posted, still outnumbered the French, and had 
abundant reason to expect victory. But Napoleon's eagle 
eye quickly saw that their left wing lacked the strength of 
the remainder of the line, and upon this he poured the bulk 
of his forces, while keeping their centre and right actively 
engaged. The result justified the instinct of his genius, 
the enemy was driven back in disastrous defeat, and once 
again a glorious victory was inscribed upon the banners of 
France — the final one in Napoleon's career of fame. 
Yet the fruits of this victory were largely lost in the events 
of the remainder of the month. Bliicher brilliantly defeated 
Marshal Macdonald on the Katzbach, Silesia, in the four 
days' battle, August 26th to 29th ; and on the 30th General 
Vandamme, with 10,000 French soldiers, was surrounded 
and captured at Kulm, in Bohemia. The Prusso-Swedish 
army similarly won a victory on August 25th ; on September 
6th the Prussians defeated Ney at Dennewitz ; and a few 
weeks afterwards (October 3rd) the Prussian general. Count 
York, supported by the troops of General Horn, crossed the 
Elbe in the face of the enemy, and gained a brilliant victory 
at Wartenburg. Where Napoleon was present victory 
inclined to his banner. Where he was absent his lieutenants 
suffered defeat. The struggle was everywhere fierce and 
desperate, but the end was at hand. 

The Last Stand at Leipzig 

The rulers of the Confederation of the Rhine now began to 

desert Napoleon and all Germany joined against him. The 

first to secede was Bavaria, which allied itself with Austria 

152 



FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 

and joined its forces to those of the alhes. During October 
the hostile armies concentrated in front of Leipzig, where 
was to be fought the decisive battle of the war. The struggle 
promised was the most gigantic one in which Napoleon had 
ever been engaged. Against his 170,000 men was gathered 
a host of 300,000 Austrians, Prussians, Russians, and 
Swedes. 

We have not space to describe the multitudinous details oj 
this mighty ' Battle of the Nations,' which continued with 
unabated fury for three days, October 17th, 18th, and 19th. 
It need scarcely be said that the generalship shown by 
Napoleon in this famous contest lacked nothing of his usual 
brilliancy, and that he was ably seconded by Ney, Murat, 
Augereau, and others of his famous generals, yet the over- 
whelming numbers of the enemy enabled them to defy 
all the valour of the French and the resources of their 
great leader, and in the evening of the 18th the armies still 
faced each other in battle array, the fate of the field yet 
undecided. 

Napoleon was in no condition to renew the combat. During 
the long affray the French had expended no less than 250,000 
cannon-balls. They had but 16,000 left, which two hours' 
firing would exhaust. Reluctantly the emperor gave the 
order to retreat, and all that night the wearied and dis- 
heartened troops filed through the gates of Leipzig, leaving 
a rear-guard in the city, who defended it bravely against 
the swarming multitude of the foe. A disastrous blunder 
terminated their stubborn defence. Orders^' had been left 
to blow up the bridge across the Elster, but the mine was, 
by mistake, set off too soon, and the gallant garrison, 12,000 
in number, with a multitude of sick and wounded, was 
forced to surrender as prisoners of war. During the three 
days' fighting Napoleon had lost in killed and wounded 
40,000 men, besides 30,000 prisoners ; while the allied losses 
in killed and wounded totalled not far short of 55,000. 

153 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

The Empire goes to Pieces 

The end was drawing near. Vigorously pursued, the French 
reached the Rhine by forced marches, defeating with heavy 
loss the army of Austrians and Bavarians which sought to 
block their way. The stream was crossed and the French 
were once more upon their own soil. After years of contest, 
Germany was finally freed from Napoleon's long-victorious 
hosts. 

Marked results followed. The carefully organized work of 
Napoleon's policy quickly fell to pieces. The kingdom of 
Westphalia was dissolved. The Elector of Hesse and the 
Dukes of Brunswick and Oldenburg returned to the thrones 
from which they had been driven. The Confederation of 
the Rhine ceased to exist, and its states allied themselves 
with Austria. Denmark, long faithful to France, renounced 
its alliance in January, 1814. Austria regained possession 
of Lombardy, the Duke of Tuscany returned to his capital, 
and the Pope, Pius VII, long held captive by Napoleon, 
went back in triumph to Rome. A few months sufficed to 
break down the edifice of empire slowly reared through so 
ndany years, and almost all Europe outside of France united 
itself in hostility to its hated foe. 

Napoleon was offered peace if he would accept the Rhine 
as the French frontier, but his old infatuation and trust in his 
genius prevailed over the dictates of prudence. He treated 
the offer in his usual double-dealing way, and the allies, 
convinced that there could be no stable peace while he 
remained on the throne, decided to cross the Rhine and 
invade France. 

Bliicher led his columns across the river near Coblenz on 
the last day of 1813, Schwarzenberg marched through 
Switzerland into France, and soon after Leipzig Wellington 
had crossed the Pyrenees. Napoleon, like a wolf brought 
to bay, sought to dispose of his scattered foes before they 
could unite, and began with Bliicher, whom he defeated 
154 



FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 

three times in four days. The alhes, still in dread of their 
great opponent, once more offered him peace, but his success 
robbed him of wisdom, he demanded more than they were 
willing to give, and his enemies, encouraged by a success 
gained by Bliicher, broke off the negotiations and marched 
on Paris, now bent on the dethronement of their dreaded 
antagonist. 

Napoleon exiled to Elba 

A few words will bring the story of this contest to an end. 
France was exhausted, its army was incapable of coping 
with the serried battalions marshalled against it ; on March 
31st Paris surrendered to the allies, who were already within 
her gates before Napoleon could come to her defence ; two 
days later Napoleon was formally dethroned, and on April 
4th the emperor, vacillating and in despair, signed at 
Fontainebleau an unconditional act of abdication. The 
Powers of Europe awarded him as a kingdom the diminutive 
island of Elba, in the Mediterranean, with an annual income 
of 2,000,000 francs for himself and a like sum for his family, 
and gave him an army composed of 400 of his famous Guard. 
The Bourbon heir to the throne returned as Louis XVIII. 
France was given back its old frontier of 1792, the foreign 
armies withdrew from her soil, and the career of the great 
Corsican seemed at an end. 

In spite of their long experience of Napoleon, the event 
proved that the Powers of Europe knew not all the audacity 
and mental resources of the man with whom they had to 
deal. They had made what might have proved a fatal 
error in giving him an asylum so near the coast of France, 
whose people, intoxicated with the dream of glory through 
which he had so long led them, would be sure to respond 
enthusiastically to an appeal to rally to his support. 
The Powers were soon to learn their mistake. While the 
Congress of Vienna, convened to restore the old constitution 

155 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

of Europe, was deliberating and disputing, its members were 
startled by the news that the dethroned emperor was again 
upon the soil of France, and that Louis XVIII was in full 
flight for the frontier. Napoleon had landed on March 1, 
1815, and set out on his return to Paris, the army and the 
people rapidly gathering to his support. On the 20th he 
entered the Tuileries in a blaze of triumph, the citizens, 
thoroughly dissatisfied with their brief experience of Bourbon 
rule, going mad with enthusiasm in their welcome. 

The Hundred Days 

Thus began the famous period of the ' Hundred Days.' 
The Powers declared Napoleon to be the ' enemy of nations,' 
and armed half a million men for his final overthrow. The 
fate of his desperate attempt was soon decided. For the 
first time he was to meet the British in battle, and in Welling- 
ton to encounter the only man who had definitely made head 
against his legions. A British anny was dispatched in all 
haste to Belgium, Bliicher with his Prussians hastened to 
the same region, and the mighty final struggle was at hand. 
The unrelenting enemies of the conqueror of Europe, the 
islanders of Britain, were to be the agents of his overthrow. 
The little kingdom of Belgium was the scene of the mo- 
mentous contest that brought Napoleon's marvellous career 
to an end. Thither he led his army, largely made up of 
new conscripts ; and thither the English and the Prussians 
hastened to meet him. On June 16th, 1815, the prelude to 
the great battle took place. Napoleon met Bliicher at 
Ligny and defeated him ; then, leaving Grouchy to pursue 
the Prussians, he turned against his island foes. On the 
same day Ney encountered the forces of Wellington at 
Quatre Bras, but failed to drive them back. On the 17th 
Wellington took a new position at Waterloo, and awaited 
there his great antagonist. 

156 



FALL OF NAPOLEON'S EMPIRE 

End of Napoleon's Career 

June 18th, 1815, was the crucial day in Napoleon's career, the 
one in which his power was to fall, never to rise again. The 
stupendous struggle, as Wellington himself described it, was 
" a battle of giants." Long the result wavered in the 
balance. All day long the British sustained the desperate 
assaults of their antagonists. Terrible was the contest, 
frightful the loss of life. Hour after hour passed, charge 
after charge was hurled by Napoleon against the British 
lines, which still closed up over the dead and stood firm ; 
and it seemed as if night would fall with the two armies 
unflinchingly face to face, neither of them victor in the 
terrible fray. 

The arrival of Bliicher with his Prussians tm-ned the scale. 
To Napoleon's bitter disappointment Grouchy, who should 
have been close on the heels of the Prussians, failed to appear, 
and the weary and dejected French were left to face these 
fresh troops without support. Napoleon's Old Guard in vain 
flung itself into the gap, and the French nation long repeated 
in pride the saying attributed to the commander of this 
famous corps, " The Guard dies, but never smTcnders." 
In the end the French army broke and fled in disastrous rout, 
three-fourths of the whole force being left dead, wounded, 
or prisoners, while all its artillery became the prize of the 
victors. Napoleon, pale and confused, was led by Soult 
from the battle-field. It was his last fight. His abdication 
was demanded, and he resigned the crow^i in favour of his 
son. A hopeless and unnerved fugitive, he fled from Paris 
to Rochefort, hoping to escape to America. But the British 
fleet held that port, and in despair he went on board the 
Bellerojihon, one of its warships, trusting himself to the 
mercy of the British nation, wliich he termed " the most 
powerful, the most constant, and the most generous of his 
enemies." But sympathy with the vanquished adventurer, 
from whose ambition Europe had suffered so terribly, was 

157 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

impossible from the statesmen of England. He was sent as 
a state prisoner to St Helena, to end his days six years later 
in that far-away island of the South Atlantic. His final 
hour of glory came in 1840, when his ashes were brought in 
pomp to Paris, to find a final and fitting resting-place in the 
Hotel des Invalides. 



158 



CHAPTER IX 

THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA 

Radical Changes in the Map of Europe 

Map-making : Empire-building : Membership of 
the Congress : Reaction the Order of the Day : Brief 
Summary of Changes : Excesses of the Congress : 
Germanic Confederation : How other Countries 
fared : Character of the Work done : The Rights 
of the People 
THE terrific struggle of the ' Hundred Days,' which 
followed Napoleon's return from Elba and preceded his 
exile to St Helena, made a serious break in the deliberations 
of the Congress of Vienna, convened by the victorious Powers 
for the purpose of recasting the map of Europe — which 
Napoleon had so sadly transformed — of setting aside the 
radical work of the French Revolution, and, in a word, of 
turning back the hands of the clock that had been so de- 
plorably misused and overwound by the Corsican. Twenty- 
five years of such turmoil and volcanic disturbance as Europe 
had never known were at an end ; the ruling powers were 
secure of their own again ; the people, worn out with the 
long and bitter struggle, welcomed eagerly the return of rest 
and peace ; and the emperors and kings deemed it a suitable 
time to throw overboard the load of revolutionary ideas 
under which the European ' Ship of State ' had at one time 
seemed likely to founder. 

Map-making 

The art of map-making, that of recasting the boundaries of 
countries and throwing into the waste-heap the carefully 
prepared maps of the past, is one that frequently goes on 
side by side with that of war, and is put into effect as one 
of its most common results. In our days the widening of 
the borders of victorious countries and narrowing of those 
of defeated nations is one of the chief of its results, and 

159 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 
numerous instances of it might be cited. Of recent examples 
may be named the taking of the provinces of Alsace and 
Lorraine from France and adding them to Germany in 1871, 
an injury which France still bitterly resents and to retrieve 
which became one of the objects of the French people as 
soon as war was forced upon them in 1914. A second 
instance of considerable interest was that which followed the 
Balkan War of 1912-13, in which decided changes in the 
boundaries of the countries involved took place, one of its 
results being the founding of a new and turbulent kingdom, 
that of Albania. 

Empire-building 

In this work of empire-building history presents few instances 
to compare with that arising from the Napoleonic wars, 
which led to the boundaries of the empire of France being 
enormously extended, while the multitude of minor states in 
Germany were in considerable measure destroyed, their 
relics being used for the building up of fewer and larger 
states. As we have already seen, the remnant of the once 
powerful kingdom of Poland was at this time dismembered 
and divided between the great robber nations surrounding 
— Austria, Russia, and Prussia. It would be difficult to find 
an example of national brigandage surpassing this in political 
depravity and indignity, since even the ordinary pretence 
of warlike retribution was lacking. It is something which 
the Polish people have never forgotten or forgiven, and efforts 
to placate them and obtain their earnest aid were, as we 
have seen, made alike by Germany and Russia at the opening 
of the war of 1914. 

We speak of these matters here from the fact that the 
Congress of Vienna, with which we are now concerned, was 
convened for the purpose of overthrowing the wholesale map- 
making of Napoleon and restoring the older condition of 
affairs so far as appeared possible or desirable. The task 
160 




AUSTRIAN SIEGE GUN USED IN BEI.GIUM 

Photo Newspaper Illustrations, Ltd. 

II. GERMAN SIEGE GUN 

Photo Record Press 



THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA 
of the Congress was far from an easy one. Many of the 
smaller German states could not be restored to their original 
owners. Those who had benefited by occupying them were 
sure to protest effectively against giving them up, and all 
statesmen of sound judgment could not but perceive that 
Napoleon had done excellent work in destroying the intricate 
mediaeval division of Germany into minor units, much of it 
the work of robber barons of the past. As for the derelict 
'Holy Roman Empire,' to attempt to restore it would be 
like lifting a fiction into the attitude of a fact. Such was 
the character of the problem which lay before the members 
of the Congress that had been convened to try to overthrow 
the work done by Napoleon's autocratic will. 

Membership of the Congress 

The Congress of Vienna, opened in September, 1814, was a 
brilliant gathering. It included the Emperors of Russia and 
Austria, the Kings of Prussia, Denmark, Bavaria, and 
Wiirtemberg ; but the leading statesmen of Europe, notably 
the English Castlereagh and Wellington, the French Talley- 
rand, the Prussian Hardenberg, and the Austrian Metternich 
formed its chief working element. Checked in its delibera- 
tions for a time by Napoleon's fierce hundred days' death 
struggle, it quickly settled down to work again, having before 
it the vast task of undoing the mighty results of a quarter 
of a century of revolution. For the French Revolution had 
broadened into a European Revolution, with Napoleon and 
his armies as its great instruments. The whole continent 
had been sown thickly with the French ideas of human 
rights, and a crop of new demands had grown up, not easily 
to be uprooted. 

The exile of Napoleon to Elba had been followed by a treaty 
at Paris, in which the widely expanded borders of the French 
empire were forced back within their original limits, France 
surrendering fifty-eight fortified places still held by its troops, 

L 161 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

12,000 pieces of artillery, and a considerable number of 
warships. She was, however, allowed to retain possession of 
the works of art that she had collected from every gallery j| 
in Europe, and nearly all the colonies taken from her by if 
Great Britain were restored. After the final Napoleonic |.;i 
downfall at Waterloo a second treaty of Paris had been »|^ 
signed, November 20th, 1815, through which France lost | 
more heavily ; some territory was taken, a war indemnity t| 
of over £40,000,000 was exacted, works of art were returned fl 
to their former owners, and arrangements were made for iji} 
five years of occupation by 150,000 of the allied forces at 
the expense of the French. | 

Reaction the Order of the Day 

Reaction was the order of the day in the Vienna Congress. 
The kings and statesmen who were gathered together did ^ 
not properly realize the state of affairs ; they saw the dis- t 
organization of the old states, but they did not grasp the | 
fact that through the French Revolution first, and afterward I 
through Napoleon, feudalism was dead, and the divine [: 
right of kings a doctrine that had been swept into the limbo ^ 
of the irrecoverable past. In all that they did at this epoch- ';i 
marking Congress of Vienna, the kings and statesmen acted j) 
on the mistaken assumption that these things were still Jl 
alive, though dormant, and that only energy and a firm i 
hand were necessary to endue them with youth and vigour r 
once more. They saw, however, that their work consisted fl 
in so settling the affairs of Europe after their tremendous I 
upheaval as to make a European peace as stable and long- i 
enduring as possible. To do this they decided that the i 
shaken power of the monarchs was to be restored, the map 
of Europe was to be readjusted, and the people were to be t 
put back into the submissive condition which they had | 
occupied before that eventful 1789, when the States-General I 
of France began its momentous work of destroying the r 
162 



THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA 

equilibrium of the world. As for the people of Europe, 
deeply infected as they were with the new ideas of liberty 
and the rights of man, which had made their way far beyond 
the borders of France, they were for the time worn out with 
strife and turmoil, and settled back supinely to enjoy the 
welcome era of rest, leaving their fate for the present in the 
hands of their plenipotentiaries. That the actual settlement 
arrived at did enable the nations to confine their warfare to 
' police work ' for many years to come must weigh very 
strongly in the balance against those who would condemn 
the participators in the Congress for selfishness, both in 
keeping what the force of arms and circumstance had given 
them and for making alterations in boundaries which were, 
in some cases, against the wishes of those most intimately 
concerned, the inhabitants. 

All this was, as has been said, no simple task. It was easy 
to talk about restoring to the nations the territory they had 
possessed before Napoleon began his career as a map-maker ; 
but it was not easy to do so except at the cost of new wars. 
There were so many conflicting interests to be sorted out 
and adjudicated upon, and a false step — one, for instance, 
that would have entailed upon Austria the relinquishment 
of Venice, or upon Russia the cession of Poland — would, 
in the state of public opinion in these countries, have almost 
inevitably precipitated the whole of Europe into that very 
war that all the nations were so anxious to avoid. 
The territories of many of the Powers had been added to by 
the French Emperor ; in Germany the changes, as already 
stated, had been enormous. Napoleon had found there 
more than three hundred separate states, some no larger 
than an English county, yet each possessed of the parapher- 
nalia of a court and sovereign, a capital, an army, and a 
public debt. And these were feebly combined into the 
Holy Roman Empire, which for over one hundred and fifty 
years had been little more than a phantasm. 

163 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

When Napoleon had finished his work this empire had 
ceased to exist except as a tradition, and the huge number 
of sovereign states was reduced to thirty-nine. These 
included the great dominions of Austria and Prussia ; the 
smaller states of Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover, and Wiirtem-f 
berg, which Napoleon had raised into kingdoms ; and a 
vastly reduced group of minor states. The work done here 
it was somewhat dangerous to meddle with. The small 
potentates of Germany were like so many bulldogs, glaring | 
jealously across their new borders, and ready to fly at one 
another's throats at any suggestion of a change. The utmost 
they would yield was to be united into a confederacy called 
the Bund, with a Diet meeting at Frankfort. But, as the 
delegates to the Diet were given no law-making power, the 
Bund became an empty farce. 

Brief Summary of Changes 

The Great Powers took care to regain their lost possessions, ! 
or to replace them with an equal amount of territory. I 
Prussia and Austria spread out again to their old size, though [ 
they did not cover quite the old ground. Most of their | 
domains in Poland were given up, Prussia getting new ' 
territory in West Germany and Austria in Italy. These f 
provinces in Poland were ceded to Alexander of Russia, | 
who added them to his own Polish dominions, and formed | 
a new kingdom of Poland, with himself as king. So in a ! 
shadowy way Poland was brought to life again. | 

Great Britain had no territorial claim to make on the I 
continent ; it had obtained restitution to its royal house i 
of the Electorate of Hanover, along with some additions of j 
territory ; but as Hanover was a male fief, a separation was 
foreseen that took place in 1837. However, it could well 
remain satisfied with keeping what it had acquired on the 
sea during its struggle against the Revolution and the | 
Empire — Heligoland, opposite the mouths of the Elbe and j 
164 



THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA 
the Weser ; the protectorate of the Ionian Islands, at the 
entrance to the Adriatic ; Malta, between Sicily and Africa ; 
Santa Lucia and Tobago, in the Antilles ; the Seychelles 
and the Isle of France, in the Indian Ocean ; the Dutch 
colony of the Cape of Good Hope, and the island of Ceylon. 
France, while diminished by the increase in power of the 
four great states, was still a large and important country, 
and seemed formidable enough for precautions to be taken 
against it along its frontiers, these having been left open to 
future invasions. The coalition established as its outposts 
the following countries : on the north Belgium and Holland, 
united in a single kingdom under the sceptre of the Prince 
of Orange ; on the north-east the Rhenish country, divided 
between Prussia, which got the largest share, and Holland, 
which obtained Luxemburg and Limburg, Hesse-Darmstadt 
and Bavaria, France's old ally, which was put at its doors 
to become its enemy. Lastly, in the south the re-establish- 
ment of Savoy and Piedmont placed Lyons, France's 
second capital, within two days' march of the coalition's 
armies. 

In Italy a variety of changes were made. The Pope got 
back the States of the Church ; Tuscany was restored to 
its king ; the same was the case with Naples, King Murat, 
Napoleon's old marshal, being driven from his throne and 
put to death. Piedmont, increased by the Republic of 
Genoa, was restored to the King of Sardinia. Some smaller 
states were formed, as Parma (which was assigned to 
Napoleon's Austrian wife, Marie Louise), Modena, and Lucca. 
Finally Lombardy and Venice, much the richest regions of 
Italy, were annexed to Austria, which country was made 
the dominant power in the Italian peninsula. 
Louis XVIII, the Bourbon king, brother of Louis XVI, who 
had reigned while Napoleon was at Elba, came back to the 
throne of France. The title of Louis XVII had been given 
to the poor boy, son of Louis XVI, who had died from cruel 

IQ5 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

treatment in the dungeons of the Revolution. In Spain 
the feeble Ferdinand VII, in whose favour his father, 
Charles IV, had abdicated in 1808, returned to the throne 
which he had given up without a protest at the command 
of Napoleon. Portugal was granted a monarch of its old 
dynasty. All seemed to have drifted back into the old 
conditions again. 

Excesses of the Congress 

While the four Powers were in accord, there were no eccle- 
siastical princes, and the free cities were a cheap booty that 
was divided unscrupulously. 

At one time this reapportionment of provinces, however, 
came near to leading to the rupture of the coalition. Russia 
and Prussia had come to an understanding that would give 
the former the whole of Poland and the latter all of Saxony 
in exchange for its Polish provinces. " Every one must find 
what suits him," the Tsar had said. But Great Britain, 
Austria, and France agreed, in a secret treaty, to make this 
plan fail, and the French ambassador, Talleyrand, succeeded 
in saving the King of Saxony ; but at the same time he 
compromised France by proposing to give to Prussia, in 
exchange for the Saxon provinces which it wanted, those 
of the Rhine, which it did not want. 

The Germanic Confederation 

The most difficult matter had been the reconstruction of 
the Confederation of the Rhine, which had subsisted from 
1806 to March 1813, and which was now turned against 
France under the name of the Germanic Confederation. 
Long and violent debates in the Congress arose on this 
subject, the small states making energetic efforts to save 
their independence. Those who held for German unity, 
and even Prussia, wished to restore the old empire of Ger- 
many. Austria dared not resume the ancient crown of the 
166 



THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA 

Hapsburgs, and the Kings of Bavaria and Wiirtemberg did 
not mean to let fall from their heads those which Napoleon 
had placed upon them. Already, when there was question 
of the spoliation of Saxony, Bavaria had promised thirty 
thousand men to Talleyrand if France, united with Austria 
and England, wished to throw Prussia back into Brandenburg 
and Russia behind the Vistula ; and Wiirtemberg, Hanover, 
Baden, and Hesse were in accord with this. It was agreed 
that the Holy Roman Empire destroyed in 1806 could not 
be restored ; and when the news of the return from Elba 
came, the Germanic Confederation was formed, of which it 
has been irreverently said that " a hut to shelter Germany 
during the storm was built in great haste, a wretched shelter 
which the princes themselves destroyed later on." This 
Confederation was to be composed of thirty-nine states 
sending deputies to a diet at Frankfort, the perpetual 
presidency of which would devolve on Austria. 
That diet was to consist of two assemblies, the ordinary, 
with seventeen votes (that is, one vote for each of the large 
states, and one also for each of the groups into which the 
small states had been arranged), and the general assembly, 
in which each state had a number of votes in proportion to 
its importance, in all sixty-nine votes. The former would 
decide current business ; the latter was to be convened 
whenever there was question of the fundamental laws or of 
the great interests of the federal pact. The Confederates 
would retain their sovereign independence, their armies, 
and their diplomatic representation. But the Confederation 
would also have its own army and fortresses, these to be 
built out of the indemnity paid by France — Luxem- 
burg, Mayence, and Landau, to close against France 
the approach to the Rhine ; Rastadt and Ulm, to keep 
it at the foot of the Black Forest or from the valley of the 
Danube. 



167 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

How THE Other Countries fared 

In Switzerland, Geneva and Vaud were enlarged at the 
expense of France with a part of the Gex country and some 
communes of Savoy ; Valais, Geneva, and Neufchatel, 
added to the nineteen old cantons, formed the Helvetian 
Confederation, which the Congress placed under the guarantee 
of perpetual neutrality. In Italy, as we have seen, the 
King of the Two Sicilies and the Pope recovered what they 
had lost ; but Austria again became omnipotent in the 
peninsula. Mistress of the Milanese and Venetia, it made 
sure of the right bank of the Po by the privilege of putting 
a garrison in Piacenza, Ferrara, and Comacchio ; it had 
placed an archduke on the throne of Tuscany, stipulated 
the revertibility to the imperial crown of the duchies of 
Parma, Piacenza, and Guastalla, ceded for life to the ex- 
Empress Marie Louise, and of that of Modena, given to an 
Austrian prince. In the last place, though he had received 
Genoa and Savoy, the King of Piedmont, poorly defended by 
the Ticino frontier, seemed at the mercy of his formidable 
neighbour. In the north of Europe Sweden, in compensation 
for Finland allotted to Russia, received Norway taken from 
Denmark, which was to obtain in compensation Swedish 
Pomerania and Rugen ; but Prussia, bitter against that 
small state, the only one that had remained faithful to 
France's fortunes, imposed on it the exchange of these 
countries for Lauenburg. That duchy, like Holstein, was, 
moreover, but the personal domain of the king, who, with 
regard to these two German provinces, became a member of 
the Germanic Confederation,^ that is, of a state organised 
against France. Denmark in 1864 and France in 1870 were 
to feel the effect of these artificial combinations. 

Character of the Work done 

The Germanic Confederation seemed well adapted to assuring 

the peace of the continent by separating three great military 

168 



THE CONGRESS OF VIENNA 

states. The mutual jealousies of Austria and Prussia, the 
distrust of the small states in regard to the large ones, the 
delays resulting from the complicated play of the Germanic 
Institutions, forearmed Germany against sudden impulses. 
Between three countries of rapid action, Russia turning to 
account ideas of race and religion to the advantage of an 
age-long policy. Great Britain busied with building up and 
keeping her commerce, and France too prostrate to precipi- 
tate revolutions, Germany, the classic land of long negotia- 
tions, could interpose a temporizing spirit. By the very 
nature of its institutions, living on perpetual compromises, 
the Confederation represented in European affairs the spirit 
of arrangement, which is that of diplomacy. But, to render 
effective service to the peace of the world, this Confederation 
— organized for defence and not for attack, and independent 
of Berlin as well as of Vienna — should have formed a real 
Germany, neither French as in the time of Napoleon, nor 
Prussian as it has been for more than a generation. 
The two Great Powers meant, on the contrary, to put their 
strength at the service of their interests. Austria, occupying 
but a strip of German territory at its border, would remain 
satisfied with exerting influence at Frankfort. Prussia 
would want more. As it needed Hanover to unite its Rhenish 
province with Brandenburg, and as it needed a slice of 
Poland to connect the Electorate with the countries of the 
Teutonic order, so it would make itself ever more and more 
German ; it would cause to be said everywhere, in the pulpit 
and in the press, that it was the hope, the personification of 
the German party, and one day it would drive Austria out 
of Germany, another day it would take Frankfort, nay, 
even the Diet, and it would lead the Germanic Confederation 
to suicide, becoming its sole legatee. But at this period, 
1815, Prussia was far from having a dream of this greatness. 
It had, as yet, no Bismarck, the man whose unscrupulous 
hand was to lead it to the goal of its ambition. 

169 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

The Rights of the People 

As for the rights of the people, in these varied changes, 
what had become of them ? Had they been swept away 
and the old wrongs of the people been brought back ? Not 
quite. The frenzied enthusiasm for liberty and human 
rights of the past twenty-five years could not go altogether 
for nothing. The lingering relics of feudalism had vanished, 
not only from France but from all Europe, and no monarch 
or congress could bring them back again. In its place the 
principles of democracy had spread from France far among 
the peoples of Europe. The principle of class privilege had 
been destroyed in France, and that of social equality had 
replaced it. The principle of the liberty of the individual, 
especially in his religious opinions, and the doctrine of the 
sovereignty of the people, had been proclaimed. These 
had still a battle before them. They needed to fight their 
way. Absolutism and the spirit of feudalism were arrayed 
against them. But they were too deeply implanted in the 
minds of the people to be eradicated. They had been carried 
by the armies of France throughout Europe and deeply 
planted in a hundred places, and their establishment as 
actual conditions was the most important part of the political 
development of the nineteenth century. 
Revolution was the one thing that the Great Powers of 
Europe feared and hated ; this was the monster against 
which the Congress of Vienna directed its efforts. The 
cause of quiet and order, the preservation of the established 
state of things, the authority of rulers, the subordination 
of peoples, must be firmly maintained, and revolutionary 
disturbers must be put down with a strong hand. Such was 
the political dogma of the Congress. And yet, in spite of 
its assembled wisdom and the principles it promulgated, the 
century that followed was especially the century of revolu- 
tions, the result being an extraordinary increase in the 
liberties and prerogatives of the people. 
170 



CHAPTER X 

FURTHER RESULTS OF THE CONGRESS 

The Holy Alliance and the World-wide Fight 
FOR Freedom 

The Grand Alliance : The Holy Alliance : Reaction 

and Rearrangement : Revolution in Spain and 

Naples : Work of the Alliance in Italy : The Spanish 

Revolt put down : The Allies gain Freedom for 

Greece : Liberty for Spanish- America : The Birth 

of the Monroe Doctrine 

THE treaty signed by the nations at the Congress of Vienna, 

which came to a close in June, 1815, was to all intents and 

purposes but a ratification and renewal of treaties entered 

into by Great Britain, Austria, Russia, and Prussia in the 

previous year, and had as its chief aim the protection of 

Europe from any further acts of aggression on the part of 

France, and the maintenance of the balance of power in 

Europe as arranged at the Congress. 

Thus the " Grand Alliance " came into being, a definite 
body with definite aims that were founded on definite 
treaties. 

But side by side with it there grew up another body whose 
aims were neither definite nor founded on definite treaties, 
namely, the "Holy Alliance." The idea of this sprang from 
the brain of Alexander I, Tsar of Russia. He was at the 
time much under the influence of a group of mystics, and 
they had instilled into him the notion that if only the great 
monarchs of Europe would agree to live on the purest 
Christian terms with one another they could not only do so, 
but could force the smaller nations to do so too, and all 
would be well for ever. 

So in September, while still at Paris, the Tsar issued his 
manifesto to his brother rulers of Austria, Prussia, and 
Great Britain. The opening paragraph gives the note, 
setting forth that their Majesties of Austria, Prussia, and 

in 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

Russia had realized that the steps to be observed by the 
Powers in their relations were to be settled " upon the 
sublime truths which the Holy Religion of our Saviour 
teaches." After laying down that the three contracting 
monarchs " will remain united by the bonds of a true and 
indissoluble fraternity " it goes on to say that they look 
upon themselves as " merely delegated by Providence to 
govern three branches of the one family, thus confessing 
that the Christian world of which they and their people 
form a part, has in reality no other Sovereign than Him to 
whom alone power in truth belongs." A recommendation 
to their people " to strengthen themselves every day more 
and more in the principles and exercise of the duties which 
the Divine Saviour has taught to mankind " follows, and 
this most extraordinary, but altogether sincere ' Treaty ' 
ends with an intimation that all other Powers who are in 
agreement with these principles " will be received with 
equal ardour and affection into this Holy Alliance." 
The manifesto was sent to every ruler in Europe with the 
exception (for obvious reasons) of the Pope and the Sultan 
of Turkey. And it was signed by all — except Great Britain ; 
though it is doubtful whether any one of them outside the 
Tsar and possibly the King of Prussia did so from a sense of 
conviction. Great Britain refrained from signing because 
the document was of too nebulous a nature to be of any use 
— ' a soul without a body ' — and also because her statesmen 
saw that it gave too wide and dangerous a loophole to 
the future interference of any nation in any other nation's 
internal affairs. It was largely through the lack of her 
powerful support that the Holy Alliance did not come to 
greater prominence. 

Reaction and Rearrangement 

Although its intentions were so pure the Holy Alliance soon 

came to be looked upon as the cause of the oppression and 

172 



FURTHER RESULTS OF CONGRESS 

reaction that followed ; but this was really the result of the 
Quadruple, or Grand, Alliance and had little or nothing to do 
with the former, which the Tsar wished to put in place of 
the committee of the Great Powers. This is its chief sig- 
nificance ; its actual results can be seen in later European 
diplomacy, especially in its influence on Nicholas I of Russia, 
and on his great-grandson, Nicholas II, whose rescript 
which resulted in the first International Peace Congress in 
1899 was undoubtedly inspired by it. 

After so long a period of war and upheaval a certain amount 
of reaction and rearrangement was inevitable. The former 
too often manifested itself in an endeavour to revive the 
principles of absolute government, while as for the latter 
the Grand Alliance, as we have seen, divided Europe on new 
lines, often with an indifference to the aspirations of the 
peoples, or the rights of the former or present rulers, that 
was born of the desire to put off the evil day that would 
usher in another war for as long a period as possible. Thus 
Belgium was forcibly attached to Holland, in utter disregard 
of Belgian public opinion. Italy was in the same arbitrary 
way handed over to Austria, with equal disregard of public 
sentiment. With so little foresight, however, had the allies 
done their work that the edifice they thus laboriously built 
was in the smaller countries quickly shaken by the hand of 
revolt ; so rudely indeed that it rapidly began to fall to 
pieces, and in little over half a century had disappeared. 
It was not long before the people began to move. The 
attempt to re-establish absolute governments shook them 
out of their sluggish quiet. Revolution lifted its head, its 
first field being Spain. Ferdinand VII, on returning to his 
throne, had but one purpose in his weak mind, which was 
to rule as an autocrat, as his ancestors had done. He swore 
to govern according to a constitution, and began his reign 
with a perjury. The patriots had formed a constitution 
during his absence, and this he set aside and failed to replace 

173 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

by another. On the contrary, he set out to abohsh all the 
reforms made by Napoleon, and to restore the monasteries, 
to bring back the Inquisition, and to prosecute the patriots. 
Five years of this reaction made the state of affairs in Spain 
so intolerable that the Liberals refused to submit to it any 
longer. In 1820 they rose in revolt, and the king, a coward 
under all his show of bravery, at once gave way and restored 
the constitution he had set aside. 

Revolution in Spain and Naples 

The shock given to the Great Powers by the news from 
Spain was quickly followed by another coming from Naples. 
The Bourbon king who had been replaced upon the throne 
of that country, another Ferdinand, was one of the most 
despicable men of his not greatly esteemed race. His 
government, while weak, was harshly oppressive. But it 
did not need a revolution to frighten this royal dastard. 
A mere general celebration of the victory of the Liberals in 
Spain was enough, and in his alarm he hastened to give his 
people a constitution similar to that which the Spaniards 
had gained. 

These awkward affairs sadly disturbed the equanimity of 
those statesmen who fancied that they had fully restored 
the divine right of kings, and of the monarchs who held that 
they were called upon by God to govern their subjects in 
their own way. Metternich, the Austrian advocate of 
reaction, hastened to call a new Congress, in 1820, and 
another in 1821. The question he put to these assemblies 
was : Should revolution be permitted, or should Europe 
interfere in Spain and Naples, and pledge herself to uphold 
everywhere the sacred powers of legitimate monarchs ? His 
old friends of the Holy Alliance backed him up in this latter 
suggestion, both Congresses adopted it, a policy of repression 
of revolutions became the programme, and Austria was 
charged to restore what Metternich called ' order ' in Naples. 
174 



FURTHER RESULTS OF CONGRESS 

While those at the head of affairs were thus engaged in 
formulating their views, the demand for liberty and human 
rights was growing more insistent among the people, secret 
revolutionary societies were widely formed, and a perilous 
insurrectionary spirit was evidently abroad. The result was 
a determination in the minds of the monarchs to proceed 
against this growing anarchy before it gained too great 
headway, and to begin by putting down the revolutionists 
in the two kingdoms in which they had recently triumphed, 
Spain and Naples. /| 

Work of the Alliance in Italy 

There was no evident intention to make a distinction between 
just grievances and inopportune demands. The revolutions 
in Greece (against her Turkish oppressors), Spain, Naples, 
and Turin were represented in a circular note " as being of 
the same origin and worthy of the same fate." If no measure 
was taken against the Greeks, it was because the people of 
Russia refused to take up arms on behalf of the Mussulmans 
against their co-religionists. As for Italy, Austria took it 
upon herself to destroy there " the false doctrines and 
criminal associations that have called down upon rebellious 
peoples the sword of justice." 

A numerous army, which was to be followed by one hundred 
thousand Russians, in case of need, set out from Lombardo- 
Venetia. At Rieti and Novara Pepe's and Santa Rosa's 
recruits could not hold out against the veterans of the great 
wars of the empire, and the Austrians entered Naples, Turin, 
and Messina. Behind them the jails were filled and scaffolds 
were erected. There were sixteen thousand at one time in 
the prisons of the two Sicilies, and in 1822 there were also 
witnessed in the kingdom nine cases of capital punishment 
for political offences. In Piedmont all the leaders who could 
be caught were decapitated — the others were executed in 
effigy. No insurrection had broken out in the States of the 

175 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

Church, properly so called ; yet four hundred persons were 
imprisoned there, and many were condemned to death, 
but the Pope commuted the sentence. The notable Pied- 
montese, Silvio Pellico, has told with the gentleness of a 
martyr what tortures were added to captivity by that 
pitiless policy. 

The Spanish Revolt put down 

Beyond the Pyrenees savage outrages had been perpetrated 
on both sides. To dispel the suspicions which France had 
for a moment inspired by its hesitancy regarding Austrian 
intervention in Italy, Louis XVIII's government asked 
permission to suppress in Spain agitations that threatened 
to reach the southern departments of France. Great Britain 
held aloof because, in the first place, Spain was itself divided 
on the matter of the constitution, and in the second, if she 
had intervened she would have found herself at war with 
Russia, Austria, and Prussia, none of which could have 
tolerated a triumph for the constitution. 
The French army, commanded by the Duke of Angouleme, 
entered Spain on April 7th, 1823. It had few occasions to 
fight, and encountered serious resistance only at Cadiz, 
which it besieged. On August 31st it captured by assault 
the strong position of the Trocadero, and this success brought 
about the surrender of the city. The army carried its liberal 
spirit into Spain. Its officers opened the prisons confining 
men whose crime was the spreading of ideas similar to those 
of France, and Angouleme sought to prevent acts of violence 
on the part of a royalist reaction, and to stop arbitrary 
arrests and executions. 

But Ferdinand did not mean that his saviours should impose 
conditions on him. The military commissions were im- 
placable. Riego, a leader of the conspiracy against the 
king, seriously wounded, was carried to the gibbet on a 
hurdle drawn by an ass ; at one and the same place fifty- 
176 




TI. 



I. DROPPING A BOMB FROM AN AEROPI.ANE 

Photo Record Press 

TWELVE-POUNDER ANTI-AIRCRAFT KRUPP GUN FIXED FOR ACTION 

Photo Neipspaper Illustrations, Ltd. 176 



FURTHER RESULTS OF CONGRESS 

two companions of a cabecilla (leader of rebels) were put to 
death. A counter-revolution was effected at Lisbon as well 
as at Madrid. There the king declared the constitution 
abolished and restored absolute power for a few months. 
Despite the congratulations sent by the secular rulers and 
the Pope to the honest but not brilliant French prince who 
had led this easy campaign, the elder branch of the Bourbons 
failed to gain enough military glory by it to become recon- 
ciled with the country. Men saw in that expedition only 
French soldiers placed at the service of a knavish and cruel 
king, and the finances of France saddled with an expense 
of £200,000,000. But small as it was, success inspired 
the reactionist ministry with a confidence in their plans, 
which the elections, held under a peculiarly restrictive law, 
further increased by admitting to the Chamber only nineteen 
Liberal Deputies. 

The Allies gain Freedom for Greece 
Only in two regions did the spirit of revolt triumph during 
this period of reaction. These were Greece and Spanish 
America. The historic land of Greece had long been in the 
hands of a despotism with which even the most reactionary 
of the European sovereigns was not in sympathy — that of 
Turkey. Its very name, as a modern country, had almost 
vanished, and Europe heard with astonishment in 1821 
that the dwellers in the land of the ancient Greeks had risen 
against the tyranny under which they had been crushed 
for centuries. 

The struggle was a bitter one. The Sultan was atrocious 
in his cruelties. In the island of Chios alone he brutally 
murdered 20,000 Greeks. But the spirit of the old Athenians 
and Spartans was in the people, and they kept on fighting 
in the face of defeat. For four years this went on, while the 
Powers of Europe looked on without raising a hand. Some 
of their people indeed took part, among them Lord Byron, 

M 177 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

who died in Greece in 1824 ; but the governments failed to 
warm up to their duty. 

In fact, the governments, even the British, at first condemned 
the revolt of the Greek patriots. The view of British states- 
men was that the struggle for Greek liberty compromised 
the existence of Turkey, the preservation of which was 
thought to be essential to the preservation of the balance of 
power in Europe. The tendency, not only in Great Britain 
but in other quarters as well, was to believe that the struggle 
of barbarians against barbarians was not a sufficient cause 
for interference. Russia particularly was placed in an 
awkward predicament, not being able to determine between a 
refusal to abjure her principles of suppressing all revolution and 
going to the assistance of her Moslem-ridden co-religionists. 
Great Britain's hesitation was due to her determination to 
avoid another European war at any cost consistent with 
honour, and her apparent indifference to the fate of the Greeks 
was really nothing more than a manifestation of her great 
solicitude for the fate of Europe as a whole. 
Russia and the other signatories to the Holy Alliance saw 
in that insurrection only a revolt, and, by a strange appli- 
cation of the doctrine of divine right, pretended that their 
principle of legitimacy had to protect the throne of the head 
of the Osmanlis. " Do not say Greeks," Nicholas said one 
day in 1826 in answer to Wellington, who was speaking to 
him of England's sympathy for them ; " do not say Greeks, 
but insurgents against the Sublime Porte. I will no more 
protect their revolt than I would wish to see the Porte 
protect a sedition among my subjects." 

Yet a few months later these words were superseded by acts 
far from being in keeping with them. There had been a 
massacre of Mussulmans in the Morea, and in revenge the 
Sultan had caused the head of the Orthodox Greek Church, 
the Patriarch of Constantinople, and two of his bishops 
to be hanged at the city gates. In Russia, as elsewhere, 
178 



FURTHER RESULTS OF CONGRESS 

opinion in favour of the Hellenes was becoming irresistible ; 
the whole of Liberal Europe espoused an heroically supported 
cause for national independence and religion. Sympathy 
was aroused, even among the Conservatives, by the 
magical name Greece and by the struggle of Christians 
against Mussulmans ; and in France as well as in England 
the finger of scorn would have been pointed at him who would 
not applaud the legendary exploits of Niketas, Bozzaris, 
and Canaris, bold chiefs who led their palikars against the 
thickest ranks of the janizaries and their fireships into the 
midst of the hostile squadrons. It had become necessary 
that the politicians should swim with the current of public 
opinion. Russia was contemplating a move toward putting 
a stop to the war, and the extreme inadvisability of her 
being allowed to settle affairs in the Near East entirely to 
her own liking, combined with an earnest appeal from the 
Greeks themselves, induced Canning, the British Prime 
Minister, to give up his policy of non-interference. And, 
quite apart from the merits of the case as between Christian 
and Turk, England was growing uneasy for the security of 
the shores of the Mediterranean, to which commerce was 
about to return. In that sea it had indeed formidable 
supports in Gibraltar, Malta, and the Ionian Islands ; but 
these were fortresses, not provinces, and it was important 
for the security of the British interests in the Mediterranean 
that the rulers of Russia should not gain the mastery at 
Constantinople as those of Austria had done at Milan, 
Rome, and Naples, and the Bourbon royal family at 
Madrid. 

The diversity of opinion and of interests, with the steady 
pressure upon national politics of an awakened public demand 
for Greek liberty, reached a desirable result in 1827, when 
the three most interested Powers, Great Britain, France, 
and Russia, covenanted to put an end to the war of ex- 
termination then proceeding in the Peloponnesus through 

179 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

the barbarity of Ibrahim Pasha, son of the Viceroy of 
Egypt. 

The aUied squadrons of the three Powers attacked the 
Ottoman fleet in Navarino Bay on October 20th, 1827. The 
battle ended in an easy victory for the AUies, and the Otto- 
man fleet ceased to exist. It did not bring to an end the 
determination of the Turks to put down the insurgent Greeks, 
the maritime war being foflowed by one on land. Russia 
declared war against Turkey April 26th, 1828, and France 
sent 15,000 troops to the Morea to terminate the persistent 
Greek question, which then threatened to give rise to 
international complications. 

The long struggle of the Greeks for liberty, which they would 
have been unable to gain without external aid, culminated 
on the 3rd of February, 1830, when a protocol of the allied 
Powers proclaimed their independence. The Porte, unable 
longer to continue the struggle against its enemies, recog- 
nized Greek independence on April 25th, 1830, and Greece was 
added to the states of Europe. A kingdom was established 
under Prince Otho of Bavaria (February 1st, 1833), whose 
rule was for a time practically absolute, years passing before 
a system of constitutional government was granted. Otho 
held the throne, with steadily growing unpopularity, until 
1863, when he was compelled to abdicate, being succeeded 
by Prince William George of Denmark as King George I, 
who reigned until March, 1913, when he was shot in the 
streets of Salonica by a Greek imbecile. He was succeeded 
by his son, Constantine. 

Liberty for Spanish America 

The story of the struggle for liberty in Spanish America, 

with its gradual attainment during the first quarter of the 

nineteenth century, does not come within the scope of this 

work, except as an example of the prevalence of the desire 

for liberty throughout the civilized world, which in America 

180 



FURTHER RESULTS OF CONGRESS 

had replaced the often barbarous rule of Spain with a series 
of republics, copies of that of the great exemplar of re- 
publican government, the United States. Here, however, 
is a matter worthy of consideration, as one of the last 
manifestations of vitality in the Holy Alliance. 
Not content with its attempts at ' fraternal ' work on the 
European continent, the moribund Holy Alliance, or more 
properly the Powers that had been signatory to it, turned 
an observing eye on the great continent across the Atlantic, 
in which there seemed a promising field for its benevolent 
interposition. Spain had met with severe reverses in 
America, retaining of its once vast colonial empire on that 
continent only the two islands of Cuba and Porto Rico. 
It naturally desired to regain the lost provinces, and King 
Ferdinand turned for aid to the great anti-liberal alliance. 
The members of the alliance, which now included France, 
viewed the proposition favourably. It promised to add 
materially to the territory under their system of government, 
the God-given one, as they maintained, and also to enable 
each of them to add to its colonial possessions. The King 
of Spain, small in mental calibre as he was, did not imagine 
that all his old territory would be returned to him. He knew 
well that the allies would pay themselves liberally for any 
service rendered him, and that he would have to be content 
with the portion they chose to leave him. If they should 
undertake to pull his chestnuts from the fire they doubtless 
meant to keep a due share of the fruit. 

The Birth of the Monroe Doctrine 
This scheme did not long remain a secret. George Canning, 
at that time British Minister for Foreign Affairs, dis- 
covered what was in view and did not approve of it. 
In a famous speech in the House of Commons he early 
announced Great Britain's recognition of the independence 
of the South American republics, thus, as he phrased it, 

181 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

" calling in the New World to redress the balance of the 

Old." 

The British realm at that time had an active trade with the 

former Spanish colonies and this would be sure to decrease 

materially in the event of the territory of these colonies 

falling into the hands of the members of the Holy Alliance. 

Canning informed the American Government of what was in 

the wind, and suggested that Britain and the United States 

should join in checking this proposed action. 

It was anything but welcome news to the United States. 

There was reason to believe that France would claim Cuba 

for her share of the spoils, thus securing not only a new 

foothold in America but a rich island very near the United 

States coast. There was also trouble brewing in the Pacific, 

where Russia held Alaska and claimed coastal possessions 

in that locality reaching nearly to San Francisco, and also 

declared that it had the right to keep the vessels of other 

nations out of the North Pacific. 

It was this state of affairs that gave rise to the famous 

' Monroe Doctrine,' which, in this way therefore, was a 

direct outgrowth of the purpose of the Holy Alliance. 

Canning's suggestion that the United States and Great 

Britain should join hands in dealing with this project did 

not appeal to President Monroe, who was an advocate of 

Washington's suggestion to avoid entangling alliances with 

any European Power. As it was, then, he acted for the \ 

United States alone, under the advice of John Quincy Adams, | 

his Secretary of State, and Thomas Jefferson, a former | 

president and one of America's shrewdest statesmen. The j 

result of their conference was the issue in December, 1823, ! 

I 
of the ' Monroe Doctrine,' a declaration of policy that has i 

more than once been effectively applied and which still i 

exists in full force, though Mr. Taft's utterance during the \ 

Great European War of 1914 to the effect that there is ; 

nothing in the doctrine to prevent a German invasion of | 

182 



FURTHER RESULTS OF CONGRESS 

Canada, provided that an attempt at annexation of territory 
does not follow, has been taken as evidence that there is a 
tendency in the United States to give up the vaguer clauses 
of the doctrine and keep solely to its main object. 
One of the phrases of this celebrated doctrine — " The Ameri- 
can continents, by the free and independent condition which 
they have assumed and maintain, are henceforth not to be 
considered as subjects for future colonization by any Euro- 
pean Powers " — was specially directed against the colonizing 
purposes of Russia. Its concluding phrase reads : " With 
the governments who have declared their independence and 
maintained it, and whose independence we have, on great 
consideration and on just principles, acknowledged, we could 
not view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing 
them, or controlling in any other manner their destiny, 
by a European Power, in any other light than as the mani- 
festation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United 
States." 

This evidently was intended to warn off nations in general 
from meddling in American matters. It was effective so far 
as the Alliance was concerned. Its projects fell dead, and 
with their death the Holy Alliance ceased to play any part 
in European politics. 



183 



CHAPTER XI 
THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 
Its Disintegrating Effect on Natural Conditions 
Reaction under Charles X ; " Down with the Bour- 
bons " ; Louis Philippe on the Throne : Separation 
of Holland and Belgium : Popular Movements in 
Germany and Italy : Poland in Arms : Prosperity 
in Great Britain : An Intolerable Situation : Repre- 
sentation in Parliament : Lord RusselVs Great 
Speech : The Old House of Commons : The Struggle 
for Reform : How Suffrage was gained : The Corn 
Laws repealed 
THE work of the Alliance outside of Greece had been 
measurably complete. Revolution, wherever else in Europe 
it ventured to show its head, had been ruthlessly put down. 
But though complete in the countries concerned, it was 
destined to prove temporary. The blessing of liberty, once 
enjoyed, could not so easily be taken away. 
The people merely bided their time. The good seed sown 
could not fail to bear fruit in its season. The spirit of 
revolution was in the air, and any attempt to rob the people 
of the degree of liberty which they enjoyed was very likely 
to precipitate a revolt against the tyranny of courts and 
kings. It came at length in France, that country being the 
ripest among the nations for revolution. Louis XVIII, an 
easy, good-natured old soul, of kindly disposition toward 
the people, passed from life in 1824, and was succeeded by 
his brother. Count of Artois, as Charles X. 

Reaction under Charles X 

The new king had been the head of the ultra-royalist faction, 

an advocate of despotism and feudalism, and quickly doubled 

the hate which the people bore him. Louis XVIII had been 

liberal in his policy, and had given increased privileges to 

the people. Under Charles reaction set in. A vast sum of 

184 



THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 
money (£40,000,000) was voted to the nobles to repay their 
losses during the Revolution. Steps were taken to muzzle 
the press and gag the universities. This was more than^,the 
Chamber of Deputies was willing to do, and it was dissolved. 
But the tyrant at the head of the government went on, 
blind to the signs in the air, deaf to the people's voice. If 
he could not get laws from the Chamber he would make 
them himself in the old arbitrary fashion, and on July 25th, 
1830, he issued, under the advice of his Prime Minister, a 
series of decrees, which limited the list of voters and put 
an end to the freedom of the press. Practically, the con- 
stitution was set aside, the work of the Revolution ignored, 
and absolutism re-established in France. 

" Down with the Bourbons " 

King Charles had taken a step too far. He did not know 
the spirit of the French. In a moment Paris blazed into 
insurrection. Tumult arose on every side. Workmen and 
students paraded the streets with enthusiastic cheers for 
the constitution. But under their voices there were soon 
heard deeper and more ominous cries. " Down with the 
ministers ! " came the demand. And then, as the throng 
increased and grew more violent, arose the revolutionary 
slogan, " Down with the Bourbons ! " The infatuated old 
king was amusing himself in his palace of St Cloud, and did 
not discover that the crown was tottering upon his head. 
He knew that the people of Paris had risen, but looked upon 
it as a passing ebullition of French temper. He did not 
awake to the true significance of the movement until he 
heard that there had been fighting between his troops and 
the people, that many of the citizens lay dead in the streets, 
and that the soldiers had been driven from the city, which 
remained in the hands of the insurrectionists. 
Then the deluded autocrat, who had fondly fancied that the 
Revolution of 1789 could be set aside by a stroke of his pen, 

185 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

made frantic efforts to lay the demon he had called into life. 
He hastily cancelled the tyrannical decrees. Finding that 
this would not have the desired effect, he abdicated the 
throne in favour of his grandson. But all was of no avail. 
France had had enough of him and his house. His envoys 
were turned back from the gates of Paris unheard. Remem- 
bering the fate of Louis XVI, his unhappy brother Charles X 
turned his back upon France and hastened to seek a refuge 
in England. 

France has long been the seed-bed of revolution. That 
strenuous and excitable people, who had won liberty by 
striking for it with all their strength in 1789, were not to 
let it be torn from their grasp by the weak-minded and aged 
brother of the king they had sent to the guillotine. As the 
effect of the Revolution of 1789 was to stir up all Europe 
and make itself felt over half the world, the same was the 
case with the two subsequent revolutions which had their 
starting-point in Paris, those of 1830 and 1848. With the 
former of these we are here concerned. 

It might be supposed that the citizens of Paris, on getting 
rid of their incapable monarch, would have decided that 
they had had sufficient experience of kings and have re- 
established the republic which Napoleon had set aside. 
But such was not the case. A meeting of prominent citizens 
was called, and after deliberating on the situation, they 
decided that Charles X should be deposed and his heirs 
declared ineligible to the throne, but that another king 
should be selected to replace him ; and the crown was offered 
to Louis Philippe, Duke of Orleans. 

Louis Philippe on the Throne 

There had been a Louis Philippe concerned in the Revolution 

of 1789 and its succeeding events, a radical member of the 

royal house of Bourbon, who joined the revolutionists under 

the title of ' Egalite,' took part in many of their movements 

186 



THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 
and voted with the revolutionary tribunal for the death of 
Louis XVI. Yet the fact of his connection with the hated 
royal family could not be overlooked and in the end he shared 
the fate of his royal kinsman, having his own head cut off 
by the guillotine. 

He left a son, who as a young man served in the army of 
the Revolution and had been one of its leaders in the im- 
portant victory of Jemmapes. But when the Terror came 
he hastened from France, which had become a very unsafe 
place for one of his blood. He had the reputation of being 
liberal in his views, and was the first man thought of for the 
vacant crown, as indeed he was the only man fit and qualified 
to receive it. He was at once appointed Lieutenant- 
General, and when the Chamber of Deputies met in August 
and definitely offered him the crown, with true patriotism 
he did not hesitate to undertake the difficult duties that its 
acceptance would entail. He swore to observe and reign 
under the constitution, and took the throne with the title 
of Louis Philippe, King of the French. Thus speedily and 
happily ended the second Revolution in France. 
But Paris again proved itself the political centre of Europe. 
The deposition of Charles X was like a stone thrown into the 
seething waters of European politics, and its effects spread 
far beyond the borders of France. The nations had been 
bound hand and foot by the treaties that followed on the 
Congress of Vienna. The people had writhed uneasily in 
their fetters, but now in more than one locality they rose in 
their might to break them, here demanding a greater degree 
of liberty, there overthrowing the government. 

Separation of Holland and Belgium 
The latter was the case in Belgium. Its people, as already 
stated, had suffered severely from the work of the Congress 
of Vienna. Without consulting their wishes, their country 
had been incorporated with Holland as the kingdom of the 

187 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

Netherlands, the two countries being fused into one under 
a king of the old Dutch House of Orange. The idea was a 
good one in itself. It was intended to make a kingdom 
strong enough to help keep France in order. But an attempt 
to fuse these two states was like an endeavour to mix oil 
and water. The people of the two countries had long before 
drifted apart from each other, and had irreconcilable ideas 
and interests. Holland was a colonizing and commercial 
country, Belgium an industrial country ; Holland was 
Protestant, Belgium Catholic ; Holland was Teutonic in 
blood, Belgium a mixture of Teutonic and French, but wholly 
French in feeling and customs. 

The Belgians, therefore, were generally discontented with 
the act of fusion, and in 1830 they imitated the French by 
a revolt against King William of Holland. A tumult fol- 
lowed in Brussels, which ended in the Dutch soldiers being 
driven from the city. King William, finding that the 
Belgians insisted on independence, decided to bring them 
back to their allegiance by force of arms. The Powers of 
Europe now took the matter in hand ; they held a conference 
in London, brought about an armistice between the Dutch 
and the Belgians, and finally, by altogether peaceful means, 
obliged the unwilling king to agree to the separation of 
Holland and Belgium. Boundaries and financial matters 
were arranged shortly after, and in June, 1831, Prince Leopold 
of Saxe-Coburg, the uncle and for many years greatest 
friend and chief adviser of Queen Victoria, was by popular 
vote elected king. Since that date Holland and Belgium 
have gone their own separate ways. 

Popular Movements in Germany and Italy 

The spirit of revolution also extended into Germany and 

Italy, but there with smaller results. Neither in Austria nor 

Prussia did the people stir, but in many of the smaller 

German states a demand was made for a constitution on 

188 



THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 
liberal lines, and in every instance the princes had to give 
way. Each of these states gained a representative form of 
government, the monarchs of Prussia and Austria alone 
retaining their old despotic power. It was a step toward 
popular government, but only a step. 

In Italy there were many signs of revolutionary feeling ; 
but Austria still dominated that peninsula, and Metternich 
kept a close watch upon the movements of its people. There 
was much agitation. The great secret society of the Car- 
bonari sought to combine the patriots of all Italy in a grand 
stroke for liberty and union, but nothing came from their 
efforts. In the States of the Church alone the people rose 
in revolt against their rulers, but they were soon put down 
by the Austrians, who invaded their territory, dispersed 
their weak bands, and restored the old tyranny. The hatred 
of the Italians for the Austrians grew more intense, but their 
time had not yet come ; they sank back in submission and 
awaited a leader and an opportunity. 

There was, however, one country in which the Revolution 
in France called forth a more active response, though, 
unhappily, only to double the weight of the chains under 
which its people groaned. This was unfortunate Poland ; 
once a great and proud kingdom, now dismembered and 
swallowed up by the mutual suspicion and land-greed of its 
powerful neighbours. It had been in part restored by 
Napoleon, in his kingdom of Warsaw, and his work had been 
in a measure recognized by the Congress of Vienna. The 
Tsar Alexander, kindly in disposition and moved by pity 
for the unhappy Poles, had re-established their old kingdom, 
persuading Austria and Prussia to give up the bulk of their 
Polish territory in return for equal areas elsewhere. He 
gave Poland a constitution, its own army, and its own 
administration, making himself its king, but promising to 
rule as a constitutional monarch. 



189 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

Poland in Arms 

This did not satisfy the Poles. It was not the independence 
they craved. They could not forget that they had been a 
great power in Europe when Russia was still the weak and 
frozen duchy of Muscovy. When the warm-hearted Alex- 
ander died and the cold-hearted Nicholas took his place 
(1825), their discontent grew to dangerous proportions. 
The news of the outbreak in France five years later was like 
a firebrand thrown in their midst. The Tsar, true to his 
principles of attempting to crush any rebellion against 
crowned heads in Europe, made preparations to march to 
the assistance of Charles X, and to enable him to carry out 
this scheme proposed to use Polish troops and Polish money. 
In November, 1830, a few young hot-headed Poles sounded 
the note of revolt, and Warsaw rose in insurrection. 
For a time they were successful. Constantine, the Tsar's 
brother, governor of Poland, deserted the capital, leaving 
the revolutionists in full control. Toward the frontier he 
hastened, winged by alarm, while the provinces rose in 
rebellion behind him as he passed. Less than a week had 
elapsed before the Russian power ceased to exist in Poland, 
and its people were once more lords of their own land. 
They set up a provisional government in Warsaw, and 
prepared to defend themselves against the armies that were 
sure to come. 

What was needed now was unity. A single fixed and reso- 
lute purpose, under able and suitable leaders, formed the 
only conceivable condition of success. But Poland was, of 
all countries, the least capable of such unity. The landed 
nobility was full of its old feudal notions ; the democracy 
of the city was inspired by modern sentiments. They could 
not agree ; they quarrelled in castle and court, while their 
hasty levies of troops were marching to meet the Russians. 
Under such conditions success was a thing beyond hope. 
Yet the Poles fought well. Kosciusko, their former hero, 
190 



THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 
would have been proud of their courage and wilhngness to 
die for their country. But against the powerful and ably led 
Russian armies their gallantry was of no avail, and their 
lack of unity fatal. In May, 1831, they were overwhelmed 
at Ostrolenka by the Russian hosts. In September Warsaw 
was taken under circumstances that suggest treacherj^ and 
the Russian army entered its gates. The revolt was ended. 
Nicholas the Tsar decided that these people had been spoiled 
by kindness and clemency. They should not be spoiled 
in that way any longer. Under his harsh decrees the King- 
dom of Poland vanished. He ordered that it should be 
made a Russian province, and held by a Russian army of 
occupation. The very language of the Poles was forbidden 
to be spoken, and their religion was to be replaced by the 
Orthodox Russian faith. Those brief months of revolution 
and independence were fatal to the liberty-loving people. 
Since then, except during their brief revolt in 1863, they have 
lain in fetters at the feet of Russia, nothing remaining to 
them but their patriotic memories and their undying aspira- 
tion for freedom and independence. Not until 1914 was 
any hope of regaining their nationality held out to them, 
when a later Nicholas, as we have seen, promised them an 
autonomous government. 

Prosperity in Great Britain 

In Great Britain, as on the continent, this period was also 
a time of great unrest and change, though here the change, 
so far from being caused by a revolution avoided one, by 
bringing about constitutional alterations, for which the 
country was fully ripe, in a constitutional way. The fact 
that these changes roughly coincided in time with the 
French Revolution of 1830, and the Belgian, Italian, and 
Polish risings must not be taken as evidence that they were 
caused by them ; and though the British were undoubtedly 
encouraged by the events on the continent of Europe, the 

191 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

reforms in Great Britain would have taken place when they 
did had there been no such encouragement. 
Before speaking of what took place here a few words on the 
political and industrial conditions then existing in the 
British Isles will be of interest. 

Great Britain, small as it is, had advanced, by the opening of 
the nineteenth century, to be the leading Power in Europe. 
Its industries, its commerce, its enterprise had expanded 
enormously. It had become the great workshop and the 
chief distributor of the world. The raw material of the 
nations flowed through its ports, the finished products of 
mankind poured from its looms. London became the great 
money centre of the world, and the industrious and enter- 
prising islanders grew enormously rich, while no equal steps 
of progress and enterprise showed themselves in any of the 
nations of the continent. 

It was the one Power in Europe that persistently defied 
Napoleon and escaped the fury of his assaults. It has been 
shown in former chapters what part it took in the Napo- 
leonic wars, how the final fall of the mighty conqueror was 
mainly due to a British army, and how his career ended in 
an island prison under a British warder. 
It cannot be said that the industrial prosperity of Great 
Britain, while of advantage to her people as a whole, was 
necessarily so to individuals. While one portion of the 
nation amassed enormous wealth, the bulk of the people 
sank into the deepest poverty. The factory system brought 
with it oppression and misery which it would need a century 
of industrial revolt to overcome. The costly wars, the 
crushing taxation, the oppressive Corn Laws, which forbade 
the importation of foreign corn, the extravagant expenses 
of the court and salaries of officials, all conspired to depress 
the people. Manufactures fell into the hands of the few, 
and a vast number of artisans were forced to live from hand 
to mouth, and to labour for long hours on pinching wages. 
192 




I. ONE OF GERMANY S LATEST ZEPPELINS ON LAKE CONSTANCE 

Photo Newspaper Illustrations, Ltd. 
II. INTERIOR OF A ZEPPELIN SHED 

Photo Record Press ig2 



THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 
Estates were similarly accumulated in the hands of the few, 
and the small landowner and trader tended to disappear. 
Everything was taxed to the utmost It would bear, while the 
government was too occupied with foreign affairs to pay 
much attention to the needs and sufferings of the people at 
home, and made no effort to decrease the prevailing misery. 
Thus it came about that the era of Great Britain's greatest 
prosperity and supremacy as a world-power was the one of 
greatest industrial oppression and misery at home, a period 
marked by rebellious uprisings among the people, to be 
repressed with stern and occasionally bloody severity. It 
was a period of industrial transition, in which the government 
flourished and the people suffered, and in which the seeds 
of discontent and revolt were widely spread. 

An Intolerable Situation 

The situation, in fact, had grown intolerable. Parliament 
continued apathetic regarding the condition of the working 
people. Certainly it showed no indication of alertness to 
the fact that the political condition had grown desperate. 
Yet the feeling was widespread that something must be done. 
If affairs were allowed to go on as they were the people might 
rise in a revolt that would widen into revolution. A general 
outbreak seemed at hand. To use the language of the times, 
the ' Red Cock ' was crowing in the rural districts, that is, 
incendiary fires were being kindled in a hundred places. 
In the centres of manufacture similar signs of discontent 
appeared. Tumultuous meetings were held, riots broke out, 
collisions with the troops took place. Daily and hourly 
the situation was growing more critical. The people were 
in that state of exasperation that, in other countries, is the 
preliminary stage of insurrection. The two things especially 
demanded were, reform in Parliamentary representation 
and repeal of the Corn Laws. Just what is meant by the 
former must be told at some length, as it referred to a 

N 193 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

condition of affairs which had long been outgrown. Repre- 
sentation of the people, in truth, once a fact, had long since 
become a fiction, one so far removed from the needs of the 
times as to have become a subject for ridicule. 

Representation in Parliament 

The British Parliament, it is scarcely necessary to say, is 
composed of two bodies, the House of Lords and the House 
of Commons. In those days the former consisted solely of 
representatives of the aristocratic element of the nation, as 
indeed it does to a very large extent to-day. But then, 
and right down to the passing of the Parliament Act in 1911, 
its powers were very great, and its ability to veto any 
legislation passed by the House of Commons was theoretically 
— though not practically — unlimited. In effect, it represents 
simply its members, since they hold their seats as a privilege 
of their titles, and have only their own interests to consider, 
though the interests of their class and their country of course 
go with them. The House of Commons is supposed to 
represent the people, but up to the time with which we are 
concerned it had never fully done so, and did so now much 
less than ever, since the right to vote for its members was 
reserved to a few thousands of the well-to-do. 
In the year 1830, indeed, the House of Commons had almost 
ceased to represent the people at all. Its seats were distri- 
buted in accordance with a system that had scarcely changed 
in the least for two hundred years. The idea of distributing 
the members in accordance with the population was scarcely 
thought of, and was scoffed at by many of the leading 
statesmen ; and a state of affairs had arisen which was as 
absurd as it was unjust. For during these two hundred 
years great changes had taken place in England. What 
were originally mere villages or open plains had become 
flourishing commercial or manufacturing cities. Manchester, 
Leeds, Sheffield, and other centres of industry had become 
194 



THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 
seats of great and busy populations. On the other hand, 
once flourishing towns had decayed, ancient boroughs had 
become practically extinct. Thus there had been great 
changes in the distribution of population, but the distribu- 
tion of seats in Parliament remained the same. 
As a result of this state of affairs the great industrial towns, 
Manchester, Birmingham, Sheffield, Leeds, and others, with 
their hundreds of thousands of people, did not send a single 
member to Parliament, while places with only a handful of 
voters were duly represented, and even places with almost no 
voters at all sent members to Parliament. So far had things 
gone, indeed, that in one case the whole constituency consisted 
of an uninhabited, grass- covered mound, while in another 
instance the constituency had been removed bodily by 
coast-erosion and was now deep beneath the sea ! Land- 
holding lords nominated and elected members for such 
seats, generally selecting the younger sons of noble families ; 
and thus a large number of the ' representatives of the 
people ' re-illy represented no one but the gentry to whom 
they owed their places. ' Rotten ' boroughs these were 
justly called, but they were retained by the stolid conser- 
vatism with which the genuine Briton clings to things and 
conditions of the past. 

Lord Russell's Great Speech 

The peculiar state of affairs was picturesquely pointed out 
by Lord John Russell in a speech in 1831. " A stranger," 
he said, " who was told that this country is unparalleled in 
wealth and industry, and more civilized and enlightened 
than any country was before it — that it is a country which 
prides itself upon its freedom, and which once in seven years 
elects representatives from its population to act as the 
guardians and preservers of that freedom — would be anxious 
and curious to see how that representation is formed, and 
how the people choose their representatives. 

195 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

" Such a person would be very much astonished if he were 
taken to a green mound and told that that mound sent two 
representatives to Parliament ; if he were taken to a stone 
wall with three niches in it, and told that those three niches 
sent two representatives to Parliament ; if he were shown a 
green park with many signs of flourishing vegetable life, but 
none of human habitation, and told that that green park 
sent two representatives to Parliament. But he would be 
still more astonished if he were to see large and populous 
towns, full of enterprise and industry and intelligence, 
containing vast magazines and every species of manu- 
facture, and were then told that these towns sent no repre- 
sentatives to Parliament. 

" Such a person would be still more astonished if he were 
taken to Liverpool, where there is a large constituency, and 
told, ' Here you will have a fine specimen of a popular 
election.' He would see bribery employed to the greatest 
extent and in the most unblushing manner ; he would see 
every voter receiving a number of guineas in a bag as the 
price of his corruption ; and after such a spectacle he would 
be, no doubt, much astonished that a nation whose repre- 
sentatives are thus chosen, could perform the functions of 
legislation at all, or enjoy respect in any degree." 

The Old House of Commons 

Such was the state of affairs when there came to England 
the news of the quiet but effective French Revolution of 
1830. For years there had been a steadily growing move- 
ment toward reform, and even in some quarters agitation, 
and now, stimulated perhaps by the stirring events on the 
continent, came a stern demand for the regeneration of this 
miscalled ' House of Commons,' that claimed to represent 
the English people. We have not told the whole story of the 
falsity of the claim. Two years before no man could be a 
member of Parliament who did not belong to the Church of 
196 



THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 
England. No Dissenter could hold any public office in the 
kingdom. The multitudes of Methodists, Presbyterians, 
Baptists, and other dissenting sects were legally excluded 
from any share in the government, save by their votes, if 
they were rich enough to have one. The same was the case 
with the Catholics, few in England, but forming the bulk of 
the population of Ireland. 

This evil, so far as all but the Catholics were concerned, was 
removed by Act of Parliament in 1828. The struggle for 
Catholic liberation was conducted in Ireland by Daniel 
O'Connell, the most eloquent and patriotic of its orators. 
He was sneered at by the Duke of Wellington, then Prime 
Minister. But when it was seen that all Ireland was backing 
her orator the Iron Duke gave way, and a Catholic Relief 
Bill was passed in 1829, giving Catholics the right to hold 
all but the highest offices of the realm. And in 1830 the 
great fight for the reform of Parliamentary representation 
began. 

As has been said, the question was not a new one. It had 
been raised by Cromwell, nearly two hundred years before. 
It had been brought forward a number of times during the 
eighteenth century. It was revived in 1809 and again in 
1821, but public opinion did not come forcibly to its support 
until 1830. George IV, its strong opponent, died in that 
year ; William IV, a king more in its favour, came to the 
throne ; the government of the bitterly conservative Duke 
of Wellington was defeated and Earl Grey, a Liberal minister, 
who had been in the forefront of the reform movement, 
took his place ; the time was evidently ripe for reform, and 
soon the great fight was in earnest progress. 
The people of England looked upon the reform of Parliament 
as a method of restoring to them their lost liberties, and they 
were deeply interested in the event. When, on the 1st of 
March, 1831, the Bill was brought into the House of Commons, 
the public interest was intense. For hours eager crowds 

197 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

lingered in the streets, and mounted men waited ready to 
dash off with the news to every part of the country ; and 
when the doors of the ParHament House were opened every 
inch of room in the galleries was quickly filled, while for 
hundreds no room was to be found. 

The Struggle for Reform 

The debate opened with the speech by Lord John Russell 
from which we have quoted. In the Bill offered by him 
he proposed to disenfranchise entirely sixty-two of the 
rotten boroughs, each of which had less than 2000 in- 
habitants ; to reduce forty-seven others, with less than 
4000 inhabitants, to one member each ; and to distribute 
the 168 members thus unseated among the populous towns, 
districts, and counties which either had no members at all, 
or a number out of all proportion to their population. Also 
the suffrage was to be extended, the hours for voting 
shortened, and other reforms adopted. 

The Bill was debated, pro and con, with all the eloquence 
then in Parliament, and on March 21st, the second reading 
was carried by a majority of one amid scenes of the greatest 
excitement. But vigorously as the Bill had been presented, 
the opposing elements were too strong, and a few weeks 
later a debate on an amendment ended in defeat by a 
majority of eight. Parliament was immediately dissolved, 
and an appeal was made to the people. The result showed 
the strength of the public sentiment, limited as the suffrage 
was. The new Parliament contained a large majority of 
reformers, and when the Bill was again presented it was 
carried by a majority of one hundred and six. On the 
evening of its passage it was sent to the House of Lords, 
where it was eloquently presented by Earl Grey, the Prime 
Minister, and supported by Lord Brougham, but bitterly 
attacked by Wellington and Lord Lyndhurst, who declared 
that it would utterly overwhelm the aristocratic part of the 
198 



THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 
House. Their view was that of their fellows, and the Reform 
Bill was thrown out by a majority of forty- one. 
Instantly, on the news of this action of the Lords, the whole 
country blazed into a state of excitement and disorder only 
surpassed by that of civil war. The people were bitterly in 
earnest in their demand for reform, their feelings being 
wrought up to an intense pitch of excitement. Riots broke 
out in parts ; London and the great towns seethed with 
excitement. The peers were mobbed in the streets and 
hustled and assaulted wherever seen. They made their 
way to the House only through a throng howling for reform. 
Those known to have voted against the Bill were in peril 
of their lives, some being forced to fly over house-tops to 
escape the fury of the people. Angry debates arose in the 
House of Lords in which even the Bishops took an excited 
part. The Commons was like a bear-pit, a mass of furiously 
wrangling opponents. England was shaken to the centre by 
the defeat of the Bill, and Parliament reflected the sentiment 
of the people. 

On December 12th Russell presented a third Reform Bill 
to the House, almost the same in its provisions as those 
which had been defeated. The debate now was brief, and 
the result certain. It was felt to be no longer safe to juggle 
with the people. On the 18th the Bill was passed, with a 
greatly increased majority, now amounting to one hundred 
and sixty- two. To the Lords again it went, where the Tories, 
led by Wellington, were in a decided majority against it. It 
had no chance of passage, unless the king would create enough 
new peers to outvote the opposition. This William IV was 
strongly opposed to, and Earl Grey resigned the ministry, 
leaving the Tories to bear the brunt of the situation. 

How Suffrage was gained 

The result was one barely short of civil war. The people 
rose in fury, determined upon reform or revolution. 

199 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

Organized unions sprang up in every town. Threats of 
marching an army upon London were made. Weihngton 
was mobbed in the streets and was in peril of his life. The 
maddened populace went so far as to curse the king himself, 
and whenever his carriage appeared it was surrounded by 
yelling mobs. The country was indeed on the verge of 
insurrection against the government, and unless quick action 
were taken it would be impossible to foresee the result. 
William IV, perhaps with the recent experience of Charles X 
of France before his eyes, gave way, and promised to create 
enough new peers to insure the passing of the Bill, a proce- 
dure also adopted by George V in the case of the Parliament 
Act nearly eighty years later. To escape this unwelcome 
necessity Wellington and others of the Tories, at the request 
of the king, agreed to stay away from Parliament, and the 
Lords, pocketing their dignity as best they could, passed the 
Bill by a safe majority, and the reform demanded was 
attained. Similar bills were passed for Scotland and Ireland, 
and thus was achieved the greatest measure of reform in 
the history of the British Parliament. The actual granting 
of the vote to people who had not hitherto had it, the dis- 
enfranchising of the rotten boroughs and enfranchising of 
populous cities, and the general redistribution of seats, 
however, though of very great importance in themselves 
are not the chief items that make the passing of the Reform 
Bill a landmark in British history. Time goes on, and these 
things themselves stand in need of reform ; but what stands 
solid for all time is the principle then accepted by the Lords 
and by the Crown, viz., that when it is evident that the 
people, through the Commons, are determined on a certain 
course of action it is for ever after June 4th, 1832, un- 
constitutional for either the Crown or the Lords to stand in 
the way. That is the true significance of the Reform Act ; 
and in this way its passing may be called a revolution, the 
first great step in the evolution of a truly representative 
200 



THE REVOLUTION OF 1830 
assembly in Great Britain, whose beneficial effect has been 
seen in all its subsequent legislation. 

We may fitly deal here with some later steps taken in the 
same direction. In 1867 the subject of the extension of the 
suffrage became the great issue. The demand for it was 
strenuous, and the Tories, under Disraeli, their leader, were 
obliged to bring in a bill for this purpose, one which gave 
the privilege of voting to millions previously disenfranchised, 
making it almost universal among the commercial and 
industrial classes. Nearly twenty years later, in 1884, 
another extension of the suffrage was made, this applying 
to the agricultural labourers ; and nearly twenty years 
later still, in 1911, the Parliament Act, curtailing very 
extensively the vetoing power of the House of Lords, was 
passed after a bitter and protracted conflict. This ended 
the great struggle so far as the male element of the population 
was concerned. Many years were to pass after 1832 before a 
crusade would arise with the purpose of giving the Parlia- 
mentary franchise to women as well as to men. At the time 
of the outbreak of the Great War this was very actively in pro- 
gress, with no clear indication as to how it would result. It 
was pursuing a militant method which did not seem to promise 
favourable results ; but when the war started, both its leaders 
and followers patriotically decided to call a truce, and to 
give the various relief committees the benefit of their vast 
and highly efficient organization. 

The Corn Laws repealed 

We must deal more briefly with the second great reform 
demanded by the people, that for the repeal of the Corn 
Laws. 

For centuries commerce in grain had been a subject of legis- 
lation. In 1361 its exportation from England was forbidden, 
and in 1463 its importation was prohibited unless the price 
of wheat was greater than 6s. 3d. per quarter. As time went 

201 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

on changes were made in these laws, but the tariff charges 
kept up the price of grain until the middle of the nineteenth 
century, and added greatly to the miseries of the working 
classes. 

The farming land of England was not held by the common 
people, but by the aristocracy, who fought bitterly against 
the repeal of the then existing Corn Laws, which, by laying 
a large duty on grain, added materially to their profits. 
But while the aristocrats were benefited, the workers suffered, 
the price of the loaf being decidedly raised and their scanty 
fare correspondingly diminished. 

More than once the people rose in riot against these laws, 
the apostle of the crusade against them being Richard Cobden, 
one of Britain's greatest orators. He advocated their repeal 
with a power and influence that in time grew irresistible. 
He was not affiliated with either of the great parties, but 
stood apart as an independent Radical, a man with a party 
of his own, and that party Free Trade. For the crusade 
against the Corn Laws widened into one against the whole 
principle of protection. Backed by the public demand for 
cheap food, the movement went on, until in 1846 Cobden 
brought over to his side the government forces under Sir 
Robert Peel, by whose aid the Corn Laws were swept away 
and the ports of England thrown open to the free entrance 
of food from any part of the world. 

With the repeal of the duties on grain the whole system of 
protection was dropped and in its place was adopted that 
system of free trade in which Great Britain stands alone 
among the nations of the world. 



202 



CHAPTER XII 

EUROPE IN ARMS IN 1848 

Outbreak of Nineteenth-Century Democracy 

Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity : Reform Out- 
break in Paris : A Republic founded : Revolt in 
Germany and Austria : The Metternich Policy fails : 
The Struggle in Vienna and Berlin : A Federal 
Empire in Germany : Italy strikes for Freedom : 
A French Army occupies Rome : The Hungarian 
Revolution : Kossuth and the Magyars : How the 
Conflict ended 
THE Revolution of 1830 did not bring peace and quiet to 
France nor to Europe. In France the people grew dis- 
satisfied with their new monarch ; in Europe generally 
they demanded a greater share of liberty. Louis Philippe 
delayed to eixtend the suffrage ; he used his high position 
to add to his great riches ; he failed to win the hearts of 
the French, and was widely accused of selfishness and greed. 
There were risings of legitimists in favour of the Bourbons, 
while the republican element was opposed to monarchy. 
No less than eight attempts were made to remove the king 
by assassination — all of them failures, but they showed 
the disturbed state of public feeling. Liberty, Equality, 
Fraternity became the watchwords of the working classes, 
socialistic ideas arose and spread, and the industrial element 
of the various nations became allied in one great body of 
revolutionists known as the ' Internationalists.' 

Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity 
In Germany, the demand of the people for political rights 
grew until it reached a crisis. The radical writings of the 
' Young Germans,' the stirring songs of their poets, the 
bold utterances of the press, the doctrines of the ' Friends 
of Light ' among the Protestants and of the ' German 
Catholics ' among the Catholics, all went to show that the 

203 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

people were deeply dissatisfied alike with the State and the 
Church. They were rapidly arousing from their sluggish 
acceptance of the work of the Congress of Vienna of 1815 
and the spirit of liberty was in the air. 

The King of Prussia, Frederick William IV, saw danger 
ahead. He became king in 1840 and lost no time in trying 
to make his rule popular by reforms. An edict of toleration 
was issued, the sittings of the courts were opened to the 
public, and the Estates of the provinces were called to meet 
in Berlin. In the convening of a Parliament he had given 
the people a voice. The Estates demanded freedom of the 
press and of the state with such eloquence and energy that 
the king dared not resist them. The people had gained a 
great step in their progress toward liberty. 
In Italy also the persistent demands of the people met with 
an encouraging response. The Pope, Pius IX, extended 
the freedom of the press, gave a liberal charter to the City 
of Rome, and began the formation of an Italian confederacy. 
In Sicily a revolutionary outbreak took place, and the King 
of Naples was compelled to give his people a constitution 
and a parliament. His example was followed in Tuscany 
and Sardinia. The tyrannical Duke of Modena was forced 
to flee from the vengeance of his people, and the throne of 
Parma became vacant by the death in 1847 of Marie Louise, 
the widow of Napoleon Bonaparte, a woman little loved 
and less respected. 

The Italians were filled with hope by these events. Freedom 
and the unity of Italy loomed up before their eyes. Only 
two obstacles stood in their way, the Austrians and the 
Jesuits, and both of these were bitterly hated. Gioberti, 
the enemy of the Jesuits, was greeted with cheers, under 
which might be heard harsh cries of " Death to the Germans." 
Such was the state of affairs at the beginning of 1848. The 
measure of liberty granted the people only whetted their 
appetite for more, and over all Western Europe rose an 
204) 



EUROPE IN ARMS IN 1848 
ominous murmur, the voice of the people demanding the 
rights of which they had so long been deprived. In France 
this demand was growing dangerously insistent ; in Paris, 
the centre of European revolution, it threatened an outbreak. 
Reform banquets were the order of the day in France, and 
one was arranged for in Paris to signalize the meeting of 
the Chambers. 

Reform Outbreak in Paris 

Guizot, the historian, who was then Minister of Foreign 
Affairs, had deeply offended the Liberal party of France by 
his reactionary policy. The Government threw fuel on the 
fire by forbidding the banquet and taking steps to suppress 
it by military force. The people were enraged by this 
despotic step and began to gather in excited groups. Throngs 
of them — artisans, students, and tramps — were soon marching 
through the streets, with shouts of " Reform ! Down with 
Guizot ! " The crowds rapidly increased and grew more 
violent. Those in favour of peace and order were too weak 
to cope with them ; the soldiers were loath to do so ; soon 
barricades were erected and fighting began. 
Louis Philippe, alarmed at the situation, next day dismissed 
Guizot and promised reform, and the people, satisfied for 
the time and proud of their victory, paraded the streets with 
cheers and songs. All now might have gone well but for a 
hasty and violent act on the part of the troops. About ten 
o'clock at night a shouting and torch-bearing throng marched 
through the Boulevards, singing and waving flags. Reaching 
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, they halted and called for 
its illumination. The troops on duty there interfered, and, 
on an insult to their colonel and the firing of a shot from the 
mob, they replied with a volley, before which fifty-two of 
the people fell killed and wounded. 

This reckless and sanguinary deed was enough to turn revolt 
into revolution. The corpses were carried on biers through 

205 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

the streets by the infuriated people, the accompanying 
torch-bearers shouting : "To arms ! They are murdering 
us ! " At midnight the tocsin rang from the bells of Notre 
Dame ; the barricades, which had been partly removed, 
were restored ; and the next morning, February 24th, 1848, 
Paris was in arms. In the struggle that followed the people 
were quickly victorious and the capital in their hands. 

A Republic founded 

Louis Philippe followed the example of Charles X, abdicated 
his throne and fled to England, where he died two years later. 
After the fate of Louis XVI no monarch was willing to wait 
and face a Paris mob. The kingdom was overthrown, and 
a republic, the second which France had known, was estab- 
lished, the aged Dupont de I'Eure being chosen presi- 
dent. The poet Lamartine, the socialist Louis Blanc, the 
statesmen Ledru-Rollin and Arago became members of the 
Cabinet, and all looked forward to a reign of peace and 
prosperity. 

The socialists tried the experiment of establishing national 
workshops in which artisans were to be employed at the 
expense of the state, with the idea that this would give work 
to all. Yet the expected prosperity did not come. The state 
was soon deeply in debt, many of the people remained unem- 
ployed, and the condition of industry grew worse day by 
day. The treasury proved incapable of paying the state 
artisans, and the public workshops were closed. In June 
the trouble came to a crisis and a new and sanguinary out- 
break began, instigated by the hungry and disappointed 
workmen, and led by the advocates of the ' Red Republic,' 
who acted with ferocious brutality. General Brea was 
killed in an attack on one of the barricades, and while 
attempting to pacify the mob, the Archbishop of Pa^ris was 
slain by a chance shot from a soldier's musket. Matters 
soon got to such a head that the National Assembly made 
206 



EUROPE IN ARMS IN 1848 
General Cavaignac dictator and commissioned him to put 
down the rebelhon. 

A terrible struggle ensued between the mob and the troops, 
ending in the suppression of the revolt and the arrest and 
banishment of many of its ringleaders. Ten or twelve 
thousand people had been killed. The National Assembly 
adopted a republican constitution, under which a single 
legislative chamber and a president to be elected every four 
years were provided for. The Assembly wished to make 
General Cavaignac president, but the nation, blinded by 
their faith in the name of the great conqueror. Napoleon, in 
December, 1848, elected by an almost unanimous vote his 
nephew, Louis Napoleon, a man who had suffered a long term 
of imprisonment for his several attempts against the reign of 
the late king. He had hurried to France on learning of the 
outbreak, offered himself as a candidate for the presidency, 
and the magic of his name served to carry him triumphantly 
into the office. The revolution, for the time being, was at 
an end, and France was a republic again. 

Revolt in Germany and Austria 

The effect of this revolution in France spread far and wide 
through Europe, where, as stated, the seeds of revolt had 
been widely sown. Outbreaks occurred in Italy, Poland, 
Switzerland, and Ireland, and in Germany the revolutionary 
fever burned hot. Baden was the first state to yield to the 
demands of the people for freedom of the press, a parliament, 
and other reforms, and went so far as to abolish the imposts 
still remaining from^feudal times. The other minor states 
followed its example. In Saxony, Wiirtemberg, and other 
states class abuses were abolished, Liberals given prominent 
positions under government, the suffrage and the legislature 
reformed, and men of liberal sentiment summoned to discuss 
the formation of new constitutions. 

But it was in the great despotic states of Germany — Prussia 

207 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

and Austria — that the Liberals gained the most complete 
and important victory, and went furthest in overthrowing 
autocratic rule and establishing constitutional government. 
The notable Austrian statesman who had been a leader in 
the Congress of Vienna and who had suppressed liberalism 
in Italy, Prince Metternich, was still, after more than thirty 
years, at the head of affairs in Vienna. He controlled the 
policy of Austria ; his word was law in much of Germany ; 
time had cemented his authority, and he had done more 
than any other man in Europe in maintaining despotism 
and building a dam against the rising flood of liberal senti- 
ment. 

The Metternich Policy fails 

But the hour of the man who had destroyed the work of 
Napoleon was at hand. He failed to recognize the spirit of 
the age or to perceive that liberalism was deeply penetrating 
Austria. To most of the younger statesmen of Europe the 
weakness of his policy and the rottenness of his system were 
growing apparent, and it was evident that they must soon 
fall before the onslaught of the advocates of freedoixi. 
An incitement was needed, and it came in the news of the 
Paris revolution. At once a hot excitement broke out 
everywhere in Austria. From Hungary came a vigorous 
demand for an independent parliament, reform of the 
constitution, decrease of taxes, and relief from the burden 
of the national debt of Austria. From Bohemia, whose 
rights and privileges had been seriously interfered with in 
the preceding year, came similar demands. In Vienna itself 
the popular outcry for increased privileges grew insistent. 
The excitement of the people was aggravated by their distrust 
of the paper money of the realm and by a great depression 
in commerce and industry. Daily more workmen were 
thrown out of employment, and soon throngs of the hungry 
and discontented gathered in the streets. Students, as 
208 




(J 

w 
p q 



, o 
o <i 

3« 



EUROPE IN ARMS IN 1848 
j usual, led away by their boyish love of excitement, were 
ij the first to create a disturbance, but others soon joined in, 
I and the affair quickly became serious. 

I The old system was evidently at an end. The policy of 
I Metternich could restrain the people no longer. Lawlessness 
j became general, excesses were committed by the mob, the 
dwellings of those whom the populace hated were attacked 
! and plundered, the authorities were resisted with arms, and 
the danger of an overthrow of the government grew imminent. 
The press, which had gained freedom of utterance, added to 
the peril of the situation by its inflammatory appeals to the 
people, and by its violence checked the progress of the 
reforms which it demanded. Metternich, by his system of 
restraint, had kept the people in ignorance of the first prin- 
ciples of political affairs, and the liberties which they now 
asked for showed them to be unadapted to a liberal govern- 
ment. The old minister, whose system was falling in ruins 
about him, fled from the country and sought a refuge in 
England, the haven of political failures. 

The Struggle in Vienna and Berlin 
In May, 1848, the emperor, alarmed at the threatening state 
of affairs, left his capital and withdrew to Innsbruck. The 
tidings of his withdrawal stirred the people to passion, and 
the outbreak of mob violence which followed was the fiercest 
and most dangerous that had yet occurred. Gradually, 
however, the tumult was appeased, a constitutional assembly 
was called into being and opened by the Archduke John, 
and the Emperor Ferdinand re-entered Vienna amid the 
warm acclamations of the people. The outbreak was at 
an end. Austria had been converted from an absolute to a 
constitutional monarchy. 

In Berlin the spirit of revolution became as marked as in 
Vienna. The king resisted the demands of the people, who 
soon came into conflict with the soldiers, a fierce street fight 

o 209 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

breaking out and continuing with violence for two weeks 
The revolutionists demanded the removal of the troops and 
the formation of a citizen militia, and the king, alarmed at 
the dangerous crisis in affairs, at last assented. The troops 
were accordingly withdrawn, the obnoxious mmistry was 
dismissed, and a citizen-guard was created for the defence 
of the city Three days afterward the king promised to 
govern as a constitutional monarch, an assembly was elected 
by universal suffrage, and to it was given the work of 
preparing a constitution for the Prussian state. Here, as 
in Austria, the revolutionists had won the day and irrespon- 
sible government was at an end. 

A Federal Empire in Germany 

Elsewhere in Germany radical changes were taking place. 
King Louis of Bavaria, who had deeply offended his people, 
resigned on March 20th, 1848, in favour of his son, Maximi- 
Uan II. The Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt did the same. 
Everywhere the Liberals were in the ascendant, and were 
gaining freedom of the press and constitutional government. 
The formation of Germany into a federal empire was pro- 
posed and adopted, and a National Assembly met at Frank- 
fort on May 18th, 1848. It included many of the ablest men 
of Germany. Its principal work was to organize a union 
under an irresponsible executive, which was to be surrounded 
by a responsible ministry. The Archduke John of Austria 
was selected to fill this new but brief imperial position and 
made a solemn entry into Frankfort on the 11th of July. 
All this was not enough for the ultra-Radicals. They deter- 
mined to found a German republic, and their leaders, Hecker 
and Struve, called the people to arms. An outbreak took 
place in Baden, but it was quickly suppressed, and the 
republican movement came to a speedy end. In the north 
war broke out between Denmark and Schleswig-Holstein, 
united duchies with a large German population, which 
210 



EUROPE IN ARMS IN 1848 
desired to be freed from Danish rule and annexed to Germany, 
and in consequence called for German aid. But just then 
the new German Union was in no condition to come to their 
assistance, and Prussia preferred diplomacy to war, with 
the result that Denmark came out victorious from the 
contest. As will be seen in a later chapter, Prussia, under 
the energetic leadership of Bismarck, came, a number of 
years afterwards, to the aid of these discontented duchies, 
and they were finally torn from Danish control. 

Italy strikes for Freedom 

While these exciting events were taking place in the north, 
Italy was swept with a storm of revolution from end to end' 
Metternich was no longer at hand to keep it in check, and 
the whole peninsula seethed with revolt. Sicily rejected 
the rule of the Bourbon King of Naples, chose the Duke of 
Genoa, son of Charles Albert of Sardinia, for its king, and 
durmg a year fought for liberty. This patriotic effort of 
the Sicilians ended in failure. The Swiss mercenaries of the 
Neapolitan King captured Syracuse and brought the island 
mto subjection, and the tyrant hastened to abohsh the 
constitution which he had been frightened into granting in 
his hour of extremity. 

In the north of Italy war broke out between Austria and 
Sardinia. Milan and Venice rose against the Austrians and 
drove out their garrisons, throughout Lombardy the people 
raised the standard of independence, and Charles Albert of 
Sardinia called his people to arms and invaded that country 
striving to free it and the neighbouring state of Venice from 
Austrian rule. For a brief season he was successful, pushing 
the Austrian troops to the frontiers, but the old Marshal 
Radetzky defeated him at Verona and compelled him to 
seek safety in flight. The next year he renewed his attempt, 
but with no better success. Depressed by his failure' 
he resigned the crown (March, 1849) to his son Victor 

211 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 
Emmanuel, who made a disadvantageous peace with Austria. 
Venice held out for several months, but was finally subdued, 
and Austrian rule was restored in the north. 
Meanwhile the Pope, Pius IX, offended his people by h.s 
unwillingness to aid Sardinia against Austria. He promised to 
grant a constitutional government and convened an Assembly 
in Rome, but the democratic people of the state were not 
content with feeble concessions of this kind Ross, Prime 
Minister of the state, was assassinated (November, 1848), 
and the Pope, filled with alarm, fled in disguise, leaving the 
papal dominion to the revolutionists, who at once proclaimed 
a republic and confiscated the property of the Church. 
Mazzini, the leader of ' Young Italy,' the ardent revolu- 
tionist who had long worked in exile for Italian independence, 
entered the Eternal City, and with him Garibaldi long a 
political refugee in America and a gallant partisan leader in 
?he recent war with Austria. The arrival of these celebrated 
revolutionists filled the Democratic party in Ro'^e ^'^i; ^^^ 
gi-eatest enthusiasm, and it was resolved to defend the States 
of the Church to the last extremity, viewing them as the ,. 
final asylum of Italian liberty. 

A Fkench Army occupies Rome 

In this extremity the Pope called on France for aid. That 
country responded by sending an army, ^l^'^^h landed at , 
Civita-Vecchia and marched upon and surrounded Rome. 
The new-comers declared that they came as friends, not as ■ 
foes; it was not their purpose to overthrow the republic 
but to defend the capital from Austria and Naples, ihe 
leaders of the insurgents in Rome did not trust their pro- 
fessions and promises and refused them admittance A fierce 
struggle followed. The Repubhcans defended themselve . 
stubbornly. For weeks they defied the efforts of General 
Oudinot and his troops. But in the end t^ey were forced 
to yield, a conditional submission was made, and the J<rencn 



212 



EUROPE IN ARMS IN 1848 
soldiers occupied the city. Garibaldi, Mazzini, and others 
of the leaders took to flight, and the old conditions were 
gradually resumed under the controlling influence of French 
bayonets. For years afterward the French held the city 
as the allies and guard of the Pope. 

The Hungarian Revolution 

The revolutionary spirit, which had given rise to war in 
Italy, yielded a still more resolute and sanguinary conflict 
in Hungary, whose people were divided against themselves. 
The Magyars, the descendants of the old Huns, who demanded 
governmental institutions of their own, separate from those 
of Austria, though under the Austrian monarch, were 
opposed by the Slavonic part of the population, and war 
began between them. Austrian troops were ordered to the 
aid of Jellachich, the ruler of the Slavs of Croatia in South 
Hungary, but their departure was prevented by the demo- 
cratic people of Vienna, who rose in violent insurrection, 
induced by their sympathy with the Magyars. 
The whole city was quickly in tumult, an attack was made 
on the arsenals, and the violence became so great that the 
emperor again took to flight. War in Austria followed. A 
strong army was sent to subdue the rebellious city, which 
was stubbornly defended, the students' club being the 
centre of the revolutionary movement. Jellachich led his 
Croatians to the aid of the emperor's troops, under Prince 
Windischgratz, the city was surrounded and besieged, sallies 
and assaults were of daily occurrence, and for a week and 
more a bloody conflict continued day and night. Vienna 
was finally taken by storm, the troops forcing their way 
into the streets, where shocking scenes of murder and violence 
took place. On October 31st, 1848, Windischgratz entered 
the conquered city, martial law was proclaimed, the houses 
were searched, the prisons filled with captives, and the 
leaders of the insurrection put to death. 

213 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

Kossuth and the Magyars 

Shortly afterwards the Emperor Ferdinand abdicated the 
throne in favour of his nephew, Francis Joseph, a youth of 
eighteen, who at once dissolved the constitutional assembly 
and proclaimed a new constitution and a new code of laws. 
Hungary was still in arms, and offered a vigorous opposition 
to the Austrians, who now marched to put down the in- 
surrection. They found it no easy task. The fiery eloquence 
of the orator Kossuth roused the Magyars to a desperate 
resistance, Pohsh leaders came to their support, foreign 
volunteers strengthened their ranks, Gorgey, their chief 
leader, showed great military skill, and the Austrians were 
driven out and the fortresses taken. The independence of 
Hungary was now proclaimed, and a government estabUshed 
under Kossuth as provisional president. 

The repulse of the Austrians nerved the young emperor to 
more strenuous exertions. The aid of Russia was asked, 
and the insurgent state invaded on three sides, by the 
Croatians from the south, the Russians from the north, and 
the Austrians, under the brutal General Haynau, from the 

west. 

The conflict continued for several months, but quarrels 
between the Hungarian leaders weakened their armies, and 
in August, 1849, Gorgey, who had been declared dictator, 
surrendered to the invaders, Kossuth and the other leaders 
seeking safety in flight. Haynau made himself infamous 
by his cruel treatment of the Hungarian people, particularly 
by his use of the lash upon women. His conduct raised 
such widespread indignation that he was roughly handled 
by a party of brewers, on his visit to London in 1850. 

How THE Conflict ended 

With the faU of Hungary the widespread revolutionary 

movement of 1848 came to an end. The German Union 

had already disappeared. There were various other dis- 

214 



EUROPE IN ARMS IN 1848 
turbances, besides those we have recorded, but finally all 
the states settled down to peace and quiet. Its results 
had been great in increasing the political privileges of the 
people of Western Europe, and with it the reign of despotism 
in that section of the continent came to an end. 
The greatest hero of the war in Hungary was undoubtedly 
Louis Kossuth, whose name has remained familiar among 
those of the patriots of his century. From Hungary he 
made his way to Turkey, where he was imprisoned for two 
years at Kutaieh, being finally released through the inter- 
vention of the governments of Great Britain and the United 
States. He then visited England, where he was received 
with enthusiastic popular demonstrations, and in the autumn 
of 1851 went to the United States, where his reception was 
equally flattering. Later he settled in Italy, and although 
he was twice elected to the Hungarian Diet he consistently 
refused to sit as he could never reconcile himself with the 
Dual Monarchy. He died at Turin in 1894, within a month 
of completing his ninety-second year, and was buried at 
Pesth. 



215 



CHAPTER XIII 

RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN WAR 

Outcome of Slavic Ambitions in the Near East 

Turkey the ' Sick Man ' of Europe : Oppression of 

the Christians : England and France declare War : 

Invasion of the Crimea : The Siege of Sebastopol : 

Charge of the Light Brigade : The Gallant Six 

Hundred : Sebastopol taken : The Treaty of Paris 

AMONG the most interesting phases of nineteenth- century 

history is that of the conflict between Russia and Turkey, 

a struggle for dominion that came down from the preceding 

centuries, and is, at the moment of writing, still in course of 

settlement. In the eighteenth century the Turks proved 

quite able to hold their own against all the power of Russia 

and all the armies of Catherine the Great, and they entered 

the nineteenth century with their ancient dominion largely 

intact. But they were declining in strength while Russia 

was growing, and long before 1900 the empire of the Sultan 

would have become the prey of the Tsar had not the other 

Powers of Europe come to the rescue. In the middle of last 

century the Tsar Nicholas I had designated the Sultan as 

the ' sick man ' of Europe, and such he and his empire 

had truly become. 

Turkey the ' Sick Man ' of Europe 

Russia's attempts to carry her ambitious designs into 
effect found abundant excuse in the cruel treatment of 
the Christian people of Turkey. A number of Christian 
kingdoms lay under the Sultan's rule, in the south inhabited 
by Greeks, in the north by Slavs ; their people were con- 
tinually treated with harshness and tyranny, and their 
every attempt at revolt was repressed with savage cruelty. 
We have seen how the Greeks rebelled against their oppres- 
sors in 1821, and, with the aid of Europe, won their freedom 
in 1829. Stirred by this struggle, Russia declared war 
216 



RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN WAR 

against Turkey in 1828, and in the treaty of peace signed at 
Adrianople in 1829 secured not only the independence of 
Greece, but a large degree of autonomy for the northern 
principalities of Serbia, Moldavia, and Wallachia, under the 
suzerainty of Russia. Turkey was forced in a measure to 
loosen her grip on Christian Europe. But the Russians were 
not satisfied with this ; they had not got enough for them- 
selves. England and the other Wsetern Powers, fearful of 
seeing Russia in possession of Constantinople, had forced 
her to release the fruits of her victory. It was the first step 
in that jealous watchfulness of England over Constantinople 
which was to have a more decided outcome in later years. 
The necessity for the maintenance of the balance of power 
in Europe stood in Russia's way, the nations of the West 
viewing in alarm the threatening growth of the great Musco- 
vite Empire. 

Oppression of the Christians 

The ambitious Tsar Nicholas looked upon Turkey as his 
destined prey, and waited with impatience a sufficient excuse 
to send his armies again to the Balkan Peninsula, whose 
mountain barrier formed the great natural bulwark of Turkey 
in the north. Though the Turkish Government at this time 
avoided direct oppression of its Christian subjects, the 
fanatical Mohammedans were difficult to restrain, and the 
robbery and murder of Christians was of common occurrence. 
A source of hostility at length arose from the question of 
protecting these ill-treated peoples. By favour of old treaties 
the Tsar claimed a certain right to protect the Christians 
of the Greek faith. France assumed a similar protectorate 
over the Roman Catholics of Palestine, but the greater 
number of Greek Christians in the Holy Land, and the 
powerful support of the Tsar, gave the latter the advantage 
in the frequent quarrels which arose in Jerusalem between 
the pilgrims from the East and the West. 

217 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

Nicholas, instigated by his advantage in this quarter, deter- 
mined to declare himself the protector of all the Christians 
in the Turkish Empire, a claim which the Sultan dared not 
admit if he wished to hold control over his Mohammedan 
subjects, and as a pledge the troops of the Tsar occupied 
the Danubian principalities, Moldavia and Wallachia. War 
was in the air, and England and France, resolute to preserve 
the balance of power, in June, 1853, sent their fleets to the 
Dardanelles as useful lookers-on. 

England and France declare War 

The Sultan had already rejected the Russian demand. The 
gauntlet had been thrown down. War was inevitable. 
The English newspapers demanded of their government a 
vigorous policy. The old Turkish party in Constantinople 
was equally urgent in its demand for hostilities. At length, 
on October 4th, 1853, the Sultan declared war against Russia 
unless the Danubian principalities were at once evacuated. 
Instead of doing so, Nicholas ordered his generals to invade 
the Balkan territory, and on the other hand France and 
England entered into alliance with the Porte and sent 
their fleets to the Bosphorus. Shortly afterward the Russian 
Admiral Nachimoff surprised a Turkish squadron in the 
harbour of Sinope, attacked it, and — though the Turks fought 
with the greatest courage — the fleet was destroyed and 
nearly the whole of its crews were slain. 

This turned the tide in England and France, which declared 
war in March, 1854, while Prussia and Austria maintained a 
waiting attitude. No event of special importance took place 
early in the war. In April, Lord Raglan, with an English army 
of 20,000 men, landed in Turkey, and the siege of the Russian 
city of Odessa was begun. Meanwhile the Russians, who 
had crossed the Danube, found it advisable to retreat and 
withdraw across the Pruth, on a threat of hostilities from 
Austria and Prussia unless the principalities were evacuated. 
218 



RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN WAR 

The French had met with heavy losses in an advance from 
Varna, and the British fleet had made an expedition into 
the Baltic, but had been checked before the powerful fortress 
of Kronstadt. Such was the state of affairs in the summer 
of 1854, when the allies determined to carry the war into 
the enemy's territory, attack the maritime city of Sebastopol 
in the Crimea, and seek to destroy the Russian naval power in 
the Black Sea. 

Invasion of the Crimea 

Of the allied armies, 15,000 men had already perished. With 
the remaining forces, rather more than 50,000 British and 
French and 6000 Turks, the fleet set sail in September 
across the Black Sea, and landed near Eupatoria on the 
west coast of the Crimean peninsula, on the 4th of September, 
1854. Southward from Eupatoria the sea forms a bay, into 
which, near the ruins of the old town of Inkerman, the little 
river Chernaya pours. On its southern side lay the fortified 
town of Sebastopol ; on its northern side strong fortifications 
were raised for the defence of the anchored fleet of the allies. 
Farther north the western mountain range is intersected by 
the river Alma, the heights over which Prince Menshikoff, 
governor of the^Crimea, garrisoned with an army of 38,000 
men. 

Against the latter the allies first directed their attack, and, 
in spite of the strong position of the Russians on the rocky 
slopes, Menshikoff was compelled to retreat, owing his 
escape from entire destruction only to the want of cavalry 
in the army of the allies. This dearly bought and bloody 
battle on the Alma gave rise to hopes of a speedy termination 
of the campaign ; but the allies, weakened and wearied by 
the severe struggle, delayed a further attack, and Men- 
shikoff gained time to strengthen his garrison, and to sur- 
round Sebastopol with strong fortifications. When the 
allies approached the town they were soon convinced that 

219 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

any attack on such formidable defences would be fruitless, 
and that they must await the arrival of fresh reinforce- 
ments and ammunition. The English took up their position 
on the Bay of Balaklava, and the French to the west, on 
the Kamiesch. 

The Siege of Sebastopol 

There now commenced a siege of a kind seldom occurring 
in the history of the world. The first attempt to storm the 
city by a united attack of the land army and the fleet showed 
the resistance to be much more formidable than had been 
expected by the allies. A portion of the Russian fleet, now 
useless, was sunk to obstruct entrance to the harbour. 
Between fifteen and twenty thousand sailors, under Admirals 
Korniloff, Istomin, and Nachimoff, all three of whom were 
to perish defending the city, reinforced the garrison. The 
population of the city had been reduced from forty-five 
thousand to twelve thousand souls. Todleben, colonel of 
the engineers responsible for the defences, could thus, with 
very considerable effective forces and material — the fleet 
alone had furnished eight hundred guns — ably create a whole 
system of earthworks which, while improvised, were none 
the less effective. The siege of Sebastopol was, then, less a 
siege than the struggle of an army defending its positions 
against another reduced to attacking them by the usual 
besieging processes. During the siege there were nearly 
fifty miles of galleries and trenches dug by the allies. 
On the north side, which it had been impossible to invest, 
the Russians received everything they needed and kept in 
constant relations with the army, which held the country 
and sought on several occasions to make the invaders raise 
the siege. The Anglo-French, giving up the idea of attacking 
from the north, crossed the Chernaya to make an assault on 
Sebastopol from the south. They installed themselves on 
the Chersonesus plateau, a natural fortress from which they 
220 



RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN WAR 

could resist diversions coming from without, and took 
possession of Kamiesch and Balaklava Bays, through which 
they could secure provisions much more easily than their 
adversaries, who were reduced to having everything brought 
by interminable convoys. 

Marshal Saint-Arnaud died of cholera on September 27th 
and was succeeded by the incompetent Canrobert. His 
colleague, Lord Raglan, a man of sixty-five, and a veteran 
of the Napoleonic wars, could not make his dignity com- 
pensate for his headstrong incapacity. 

The siege was destined to absorb for a year the resources of 
the belligerents. Accordingly the other operations became 
of minor importance. In the Black Sea, on April 22nd, the 
allied fleet had bombarded the military port of Odessa, but 
respected the city and the commercial harbour. The Russians 
themselves destroyed their posts on the coast ■ near the 
Caucasus. In the Baltic, after despairing of an attack on 
Kronstadt, a landing was made on the Aland Islands, where 
an unfinished fortress was seized (August 16th). In 1855 
Sveaborg was bombarded. Other not very profitable ex- 
peditions were sent to the White Sea and Pacific coast. 

Charge of the Light Brigade 

In October Menshikoff, reinforced, tried to interrupt the 
siege by attacking Balaklava. Eight days after the begin- 
ning of siege operations the British were surprised in their 
strong position near Balaklava by General Liprandi, with a 
considerable Russian force. This engagement was rendered 
notable by the mad but heroic ' Charge of the Light Bri- 
gade,' which has become famous in song and story. The 
purpose of this assault on the part of the Russians was to 
cut the line of communication of the allies, by capturing 
the redoubts that guarded them, and thus to enforce a 
retreat by depriving the enemy of supplies. 
The day began with a defeat of the Turks and the capture 

221 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

by the Russians of several of the redoubts. Then a great 
body of Russian cavalry, 3000 strong, charged upon the 
Ninety-third Highlanders, who were drawn up in line to 
receive them. There was comparatively but a handful of 
these gallant Scotsmen, 550 all told, but they have made 
themselves famous in history as the invincible ' thin red 
line.' 

Sir Colin Campbell, their noble leader, said to them : " Re- 
member, lads, there is no retreat from here. You must die 
where you stand." 

" Aye, aye, Sir Colin," shouted the sturdy Highlanders, 
" we will do just that." 

They did not need to. The murderous fire from their ' thin 
red line ' was more than the Russians cared to endure, 
and the foe was driven back in disorder. 
The British cavalry completed the work of the infantry. 
On the serried mass of Russian horsemen charged Scarlett's 
Heavy Brigade, greatly inferior to them in number, but 
inspired with a spirit and courage that carried its bold 
horsemen twice through the Russian column with such 
resistless energy that the great body of Muscovite cavalry 
broke and fled — 3000 completely routed by 800 gallant 
dragoons. 

And now came the unfortunate but world-famous event of 
the day. Lord Raglan sent an order to the brigade of light 
cavalry to advance along some heights overlooking a valley. 
The heights on the opposite side were to be cleared simul- 
taneously by the French. 

Lord Lucan, to whom the command was brought, did not 
understand it. Apparently, Captain Nolan, who conveyed 
the order, did not clearly explain its purport. 
" Lord Raglan orders that the cavalry shall attack imme- 
diately," he said, impatient at Lucan's hesitation. 
" Attack, sir ; attack what ? " asked Lucan. 
" There, my lord, is your enemy ; there are your guns," 
222 



RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN WAR 

said Nolan, with a wave of his hand toward the hostile lines. 

The guns he appeared to indicate were those of a Russian 

battery at the end of the valley, to attack which by an 

unsupported cavalry charge was sheer madness. Lucan 

rode to Lord Cardigan, in command of the cavalry, and 

repeated the order. 

" But there is a battery in front of us and guns and riflemen 

on either flank," said Cardigan. 

" I know it," answered Lucan. " But ; Lord Raglan will 

have it. We have no choice but to obey." 

" The brigade will advance," said Cardigan, without further 

hesitation. 

The Gallant Six Hundred 

In a moment more the ' gallant six hundred ' were in motion 
— going in the wrong direction, as Captain Nolan is thought 
to have perceived. At all events he spurred his horse 
toward the front of the brigade, waving his sword as if with 
the intention to set them right. But no one understood 
him, and at that instant he was shot dead. He did not fall 
from the saddle but was carried by his charger across the 
front of the advancing brigade, an action which was mis- 
understood by Lord Cardigan, who thought it an intentional 
insult. There was no further hope of stopping the mad 
charge. 

On and on went the devoted Light Brigade, straight for the 
Russian battery half a league away. As they went fire was 
opened on them from the guns upon the heights on either 
side. Soon they came within range of the guns in front, 
which also opened a raking fire. They were enveloped in 
" a zone of fire, and the air was filled with the rush of shot, 
the bursting of shells, and the moan of bullets, while amidst 
the infernal din the work of death went on, and men and 
horses were incessantly dashed to the ground." 
But no thought of retreat seems to have entered the minds 

223 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

of those brave men and their gallant leader. Their numbers 
diminished with every stride, but they rode coolly until at 
last they reached the battery and dashed in among the guns, 
cutting down the gunners as they served their pieces. A 
strong force of Russian cavalry in the rear of the battery 
was also attacked and forced to retreat. The men fought 
madly in the face of death until the word came to withdraw. 
Once more they suffered the galling fire from the valley and 
the heights, but now the cannon were behind them and on 
one side only, for the French had succeeded in forcing back 
the Russians on the side which they had attacked. At 
last the remnant of the ' gallant six hundred ' appeared 
upon the plain, comprising one or two large groups, though the 
most of them were in scattered parties of two or three. One 
group of about seventy men cut their way through three 
squadrons of Russian lancers. Another party of equal 
strength broke through a second intercepting force. Out 
of some 670 men in all, 247 were killed and wounded, and 
nearly all the horses were slain. Lord Cardigan, the first 
to enter the battery, was one of those who came back alive. 
The whole affair had occupied no more than twenty minutes : 
but it was a twenty minutes of which the British nation 
has ever since been proud. The French General Bosquet 
fairly characterized it by his often quoted remark : " C'est 
magnifique, mais ce n'est pas la guerre " (it is magnificent, 
but it is not war.) 

The battle of Balaklava was decided in favour of the allies, 
and on the 5th of November, when Menshikoff had obtained 
fresh reinforcements, the murderous battle of Inkerman 
was fought under the eyes of the two Grand Dukes Nicholas 
and Michael, and after a mighty struggle was won by the 
allied armies. Fighting in the ranks were two other princely 
personages, the Duke of Cambridge and Prince Napoleon, 
son of Jerome, former King of Westphalia. 

224 




THE TSAR OF RUSSIA 

Photo Underwood and U nderwood, London 



RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN WAR 

Sebastopol taken 

These battles in the field brought no changes in the state 
of affairs. The siege of Sebastopol went on through the 
winter of 1854-55, during which the allied armies suffered 
the utmost misery and privation, partly the effect of climate, 
largely the result of fraud and incompetency at home. It 
was after receiving the news of the defeat of his troops at 
Inkerman that the Tsar remarked, " I have two generals 
who will not fail me, General January and General February." 
He was right ; but he might have added the names of two 
even more potent than these. General Disease and General 
Mismanagement. Sisters of Mercy and self-sacrificing 
English ladies — chief among them the noble Florence Night- 
ingale — strove to assauge the sufferings brought on the 
soldiers by cold, hunger, and sickness, enemies which proved 
more fatal than the sword ; while the politicians and writers 
in the press at home saw to it that the contractors who were 
selling their country and their countrymen's lives for gold, 
the army with bad food, shoddy clothing, and useless 
bayonets, did not escape their deserts. 

In the year 1855 the war was carried on with increased 
energy. Sardinia joined the allies and sent them an army 
of 15,000 men. Austria broke with Russia and began 
preparations for war. And in March the obstinate Tsar 
Nicholas died and his milder son Alexander took his place. 
Peace was demanded in Russia, yet 25,000 of her sons had 
fallen and the honour of the nation seemed involved. The 
war went on, both sides increasing their forces. Month by 
month the allies more closely invested the besieged city. 
After the middle of August the assault became almost 
incessant, cannon-balls dropping like an unceasing storm of 
hail in forts and streets. 

On the 5th of September began a terrific bombardment, 
continuing day and night for three days, and sweeping down 
more than 5000 Russians on the ramparts. At length, as 

p 225 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

the hour of noon struck on September 8th, the three hundred 
and fiftieth day of the siege, the attack, of which this play 
of artillery was the prelude, began, the French assailing the 
Malakoff, the British the Redan, these being the most 
formidable of the defensive works of the town. The French 
assault was succeessful and Sebastopol became untenable. 
That night the Russians blew up their remaining forts, sunk 
their remaining ships of war, and marched out of the town, 
leaving it as the prize of victory to the allies. 

The Treaty of Paris 

Britain, Turkey, and Piedmont would have liked to continue 
the war ; the British were already contemplating a decisive 
expedition against Kronstadt, and Sweden had just signed 
a treaty with the allies (November 21st). But Napoleon III 
wanted no more of it. He was driven to this resolution by 
domestic reasons, and also by the desire to become allied 
with Russia, in order to satisfy with its aid (as was actually 
to happen) the Italian Utopias of which he had been 
dreaming. Russia was far from being conquered, but its 
finances were in a most deplorable condition, and peace 
was necessary to it. Austria, whose weakness after the 
Hungarian crisis, and fear of Prussia, where Bismarck 
was already concocting his plans, had kept neutral, made 
the way easy for negotiations to be opened. 
As regards France and England, the negotiations were 
confined to vague promises, and to Russia they proposed 
the acceptance of guarantees to which the conclusion of 
peace was subordinate. When the capture of Kars by the 
Russians (November 28th) had brought a degree of satis- 
faction to their national pride that made it more easy for 
them to yield, Austria decided on submitting to them an 
ultimatum which it knew would be accepted, a course advised 
also by Prussia. 

The terms of peace were agreed upon in the Paris congress 
226 



RUSSIA AND THE CRIMEAN WAR 

(February 25th to March 30th, 1856). The independence and 
integrity of Turkey were declared to be of European interest, 
and any conflict which should arise between the Ottoman 
empire and one of the signing Powers was to justify the 
mediation of the others. The Straits treaty was renewed, 
the free navigation of the Danube assured, and an inter- 
national commission entrusted with seeing to the mainte- 
nance of the necessary works at its estuary. To Moldavia 
was to be added a portion of Russian Bessarabia, so that 
Russia would not touch on the great river. The Russian 
protectorate over the principalities was abolished. The 
Aland Islands in the Baltic were neutralized. But the chief 
clause was that relating to the Black Sea, from which the 
war vessels of all nations were excluded. The Sultan once 
more proclaimed religious liberty, acknowledged the civil 
equality of all his subjects, and admitted Christians to 
military service — promises that were not to be kept. 



227 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON 

The Final Overthrow of Napoleonism 

The Coup d^Etat of 1851 ; From President to Em- 
peror : The Empire is Peace : War with Austria : 
The Austrians Advance : The Battle of Magenta : 
Possession of Lomhardy : French Victory at Solferino : 
Treaty of Peace : Invasion of Mexico : End of 
Napoleon's Career 
THE name of Napoleon is a name to conjure with in France. 
Two generations after the fall of Napoleon the Great the 
people of that country had practically forgotten the misery 
he had brought them, and remembered only the glory with 
which he had crowned the name of France. When, then, 
a man who has been designated as Napoleon the Little 
offered himself for their suffrages, they cast their votes, as 
we have seen, almost unanimously in his favour. 
Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, to give him his full 
name, was a son of the great Napoleon's brother, Louis, 
once King of Holland, and Hortense de Beauharnais, and had 
been recognized by Napoleon as, after his father, the direct 
successor to the throne. This he made strenuous efforts to 
obtain, hoping to dethrone Louis Philippe and install himself 
in his place. In 1836, with a few followers, he made an 
attempt to capture Strasburg. His effort failed and he was 
arrested and transported to the United States. In 1839 he 
published a work entitled Napoleonic Ideas, which was an 
apology for the ambitious acts of the first Napoleon. 
The growing unpopularity of Louis Philippe tempted Louis 
Napoleon to make a second attempt to invade France. He 
did it in a rash way almost certain to end in failure. Followed 
by about fifty men, and bringing with him a tame eagle, 
which was expected to perch upon his banner as the har- 
binger of victory, he sailed from England in August, 1840, 
and landed at Boulogne. This desperate and foolish enter- 
228 



THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON 

prise proved a complete failure. The soldiers whom the 
would-be usurper expected to join his standard arrested 
him, and he was tried for treason by the House of Peers. 
This time he was not dealt with so leniently as before, but 
was sentenced to imprisonment for life and was confined in 
the castle of Ham. From this fortress he escaped in disguise 
in May, 1846, and made his way to England. 
The Revolution of 1848 gave the restless and ambitious ad- 
venturer a more promising opportunity. He returned to 
France, was elected to the National Assembly, and on the 
adoption of the republican constitution offered himself as a 
candidate for the presidency of the new republic. And now 
the magic of the name of Napoleon told. General Cavaignac, 
his chief competitor, was supported by the substantial men 
of the country, who distrusted the adventurer; but the 
people rose almost solidly in his support, and he was elected 
president for four years by 5,562,834 votes, against 1,469,166 
for Cavaignac. 

The new President of France soon showed his ambition. 
He became engaged in a contest with the Assembly and 
aroused the distrust of the Republicans by his autocratic 
remarks. In 1849 he still further offended the Democratic 
party by sending an army to Rome, which put an end to 
the republic in that city. He sought to make his Cabinet 
officers the pliant instruments of his will, and thus caused 
De Tocqueville, the celebrated author, who was Minister for 
Foreign Affairs, to resign. "We were not the men to serve 
him on those terms," said De Tocqueville, at a later time. 
The new-made president was feeling his way to imperial 
dignity. He could not forget that his illustrious uncle had 
made himself emperor, and his ambition instigated him to 
the same course. A violent controversy arose between him 
and the Assembly, which body had passed a law restricting 
universal suffrage, thus reducing the popular support of 
the president. In June, 1850, it increased his salary at'^his 

^29 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

request, but granted the increase only for one year — an act 
of distrust which proved a new source of discord. 

The Coup d'Etat of 1851 

Louis Napoleon meanwhile was preparing for a daring act. 
He secretly obtained the support of the army leaders and 
prepared covertly for the boldest stroke of his life. On the 
2nd of December, 1851 — the anniversary of the establishment 
of the first empire and of the battle of Austerlitz— he got 
rid of his opponents by means of the memorable coup d'etat, 
and seized the supreme power of the state. 
The most influential members of the Assembly had been 
arrested during the preceding night, and when the hour for 
the session of the House came the men most strongly opposed 
to the usurper were in prison. Most of them were afterward 
exiled, some for life, some for shorter terms. This act of 
outrage and violation of the plighted faith of the president 
roused the socialists and republicans to the defence of their 
threatened liberties, insurrections broke out in Paris, Lyons, 
and other towns, street barricades were built, and severe 
fighting took place. But Napoleon had secured the army, 
and the revolt was suppressed with blood and slaughter. 
Baudin, one of the deposed deputies, was shot on the 
barricade in the Faubourg St Antoine, while waving in 
his hand the decree of the constitution. He was afterward 
honoured as a martyr to the cause of republicanism in 
France. 

The usurper had previously sought to gain the approval of 
the people by liberal and charitable acts, and to win the 
good will of the civic authorities by numerous progresses 
through the interior. He now posed as a protector and 
promoter of national prosperity and the rights of the people, 
and sought to lay upon the Assembly all the defects of his 
administration. By these means, which helped to awaken 
the Napoleonic fervour in the state, he was enabled safely 
230 



THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON 

to submit his acts of violence and bloodshed to the approval 
of the people. The new constitution offered by the president 
was put to the vote on December 20th, and was adopted by 
the enormous majority of nearly seven million votes. By its 
terms Louis Napoleon was to be President of France for 
ten years, with power equal to that of a monarch, and the 
Parliament was to consist of two bodies, a Senate and 
a Legislative House, which were given only nominal 
power. 

From President to Emperor 

This was as far as Napoleon dared to venture at that time. 
A year later, on December 2nd, 1852, having meanwhile 
firmly cemented his position in the state, he passed from 
president to emperor, again by a vote of the people, of whom, 
according to the official report, 7,824,189 cast their votes 
in his favour. That this report told the truth few or none 
believed, but it served the usurper's purpose. 
Thus ended the second French Republic, by an act of usurpa- 
tion of the basest and most unwarranted character, but at 
the same time, one which was almost unanimously endorsed 
by the change-loving French people. The partisans of the 
new emperor were rewarded with the chief offices of the 
state ; the leading republicans languished in prison or in 
exile for the crime of doing their duty to their constituents ; 
and Armand Marrast, the most zealous champion of the 
republic, died of a broken heart from the overthrow of all 
his efforts and aspirations. The honest soldier and earnest 
patriot, Cavaignac, in a few years followed him to the grave. 
The cause of republicanism in France seemed lost. 
The crowning of a new emperor of the Napoleonic family in 
France naturally filled Europe with apprehensions. But 
Napoleon III, as he styled himself, was an older man than 
Napoleon I, and seemingly less likely to be carried away by 
ambition. His favourite motto, " The Empire is Peace," 

231 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

helped to restore quietude, and gradually the nations began 
to trust in his words : " France wishes for peace ; and when 
France is satisfied the world is quiet." 

Warned by one of the errors of his uncle, and fully aware 
of the fact that none of the crowned heads was anxious to 
enter into family relationships with him, he avoided seeking 
a wife in the royal families of Europe, but allied himself 
with a Spanish lady of noble rank, the young and beautiful 
Eugenie de Montijo, Countess of Teba. At the same time, 
making a virtue of necessity, he proclaimed that, " A sove- 
reign raised to the throne by a new principle should remain 
faithful to that principle, and in the face of Europe frankly 
accept the position of a parvenu, which is an honourable title 
when it is obtained by the public suffrage of a great people. 
For seventy years all princes' daughters married to rulers 
of France have been unfortunate ; only one, Josephine, was 
remembered with affection by the French people, and she 
was not born of a royal house." 

The new emperor continued his efforts as president to win 
the approval of the people by public works. He recognized 
the necessity of aiding the working classes as far as possible, 
and protecting them from poverty and wretchedness. 
During a dearth in 1853 a ' baking fund ' was organized 
in Paris, the city contributing funds to enable bread to be 
sold at a low price. Dams and embankments were built 
along the rivers to overcome the effects of floods. New 
streets were opened, bridges built, railways constructed, to 
increase internal traffic. Splendid buildings were erected 
for municipal and government purposes. Paris was given 
a new aspect by pulling down its narrow lanes, and building 
wide streets and magnificent boulevards — the latter, as was 
charged, for the purpose of depriving insurrection of its 
lurking-places. The great exhibition of arts and industries 
in London was followed in 1854 by one in France, the largest 
and finest seen up to the time. Trade and industry were 
232 



THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON 

fostered by a reduction of tariff charges, joint-stock com- 
panies and credit associations were favoured, and in many 
ways Napoleon III worked wisely and well for the prosperity 
of France, the growth of its industries, and the improve- 
ment of the condition of its people. 

The Empire is Peace 

But the new emperor, while thus actively engaged in labours 
of peace, by no means lived up to the spirit of his motto, 
" The Empire is Peace." An empire founded upon the army 
needs to give employment to that army. A monarchy 
sustained by the votes of a people athirst for glory needs to 
do something to appease that thirst. A throne filled by a 
Napoleon could not safely ignore the " Napoleonic Ideas," 
and the first of these might be stated as " The Empire is 
War." And the new emperor was by no means satisfied to 
pose simply as the ' nephew of his uncle.' He possessed a 
large share of the Napoleonic ambition, and hoped by military 
glory to surround his throne with some of the lustre of that 
of Napoleon the First. 

Whatever his private views, it is certain that France under 
his reign became the most aggressive nation of Europe, and 
the overweening ambition and self-confidence of the new 
emperor led him to the same end as his great-uncle, that of 
disaster and overthrow. He was evidently bent on playing 
a leading part in European politics, showing the world that 
one worthy to bear the name of Napoleon was on the throne, 
and this ambition led him to acts that mainly served to 
demonstrate his incapacity. 

The very beginning of Louis Napoleon's career of ambition, 
as President of the French Republic, was signalized by an 
act of military aggression, in sending an army to Rome and 
putting an end to the new Italian Republic. These troops 
were kept there until 1866, and the aspirations of the Italian 
patriots were held in check until that year. Only when 

233 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

United Italy stood menacingly at the gates of Rome were 
these foreign troops withdrawn. They had accomplished 
nothing other than to retard for a time the inevitable union 
of the Italian states into a single kingdom. 
In 1854, Napoleon, as has been said, allied himself with the 
British and the Turks against Russia, and sent an army to 
the Crimea, which played an effective part in the great 
struggle in that peninsula ; and it was the troops of France 
that had the honour of rendering Sebastopol untenable, 
carrying by storm one of its two great fortresses and turning 
its guns upon the city. 

War with Austria 

The next act of warW the part of the French Emperor was 
directed against Austria. As the career of conquest of 
Napoleon I had begun with an attack upon the Austrians 
in Italy, Napoleon III attempted a similar enterprise, and 
with equal success. He had long been cautiously preparing in 
secret for hostilities with Austria, thus to emulate his great- 
uncle, but lacked a satisfactory excuse for declaring war. 
This came in 1858 from an attempt at assassination. Felice 
Orsini, a fanatical Italian patriot, incensed at Napoleon for 
failing to come to the aid of Italy, launched three explosive 
bombs against his carriage. The effect was fatal to many 
of the people in the street, though the intended victim 
escaped. Orsini won sympathy while in prison by his 
patriotic sentiments and the steadfastness of his love for 
his country. " Remember that the Italians shed their 
blood for Napoleon the Great," he wrote to the emperor. 
" Liberate my country, and the blessings of twenty-five 
millions of people will follow you to posterity." 
Louis Napoleon had once been a member of a secret political 
society of Italy ; he had taken the oath of initiation ; his 
failure to come to the aid of that country when in power 
constituted him a traitor to his oath and one doomed to 
234 



THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON 

death ; the act of Orsini was apparently the work of the 
society. That he was deeply moved by the attempted 
assassination is certain, and the result of his combined fear 
and ambition was soon to be shown by a movement in favour 
of Italian independence. 

On New Year's Day, 1859, while receiving the diplomatic 
corps at the Tuileries, Napoleon addressed the following 
significant words to the Austrian ambassador : "I regret 
that our relations are not so cordial as I could wish, but I 
beg you to report to the emperor that my personal sentiments 
toward him remain unaltered." 

Such is the masked way in which diplomats announce an 
intention of war. The meaning of the threatening words 
was soon shown, when Victor Emmanuel, shortly afterward, 
announced at the opening of the Chambers in Turin that 
Sardinia could no longer remain indifferent to the cry for 
help which was rising from all Italy. Ten years had passed 
since the defeat of the Sardinians by an Austrian army on 
the plains of Lombardy, and the end for the time of their 
hopes of a free and united Italy. During that time they 
had cherished a hope of retribution, and the words of Napo- 
leon and Victor Emmanuel made it evident to them that 
an alliance had been made with France and that the hour of 
vengeance was at hand. 

Austria was ready for the contest. Her finances, indeed, 
were in a serious state, but she had a large army in Lombardy. 
This was increased, Lombardy was declared in a state of 
siege, and every step was taken to guard against assault 
from Sardinia. Delay was disadvantageous to Austria, as 
it would permit her enemies to complete their preparations, 
and on April 23rd, 1859, an ultimatum came from Vienna, 
demanding that Sardinia should put her army on a peace 
footing or war would ensue. Austria thus took the first 
formal step toward a declaration of war, and the wishes 
of France and Italy were fulfilled. 

235 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

The Austrians advance 

A refusal came from Turin. Immediately Field-Marshal 
Gyulai received orders to cross the Ticino. Thus, after ten 
years of peace, the beautiful plains of Northern Italy were 
once more to endure the ravages of war. This act of Austria 
was severely criticized by the neutral Powers, which had 
been seeking to allay the trouble. Napoleon took advantage 
of it, as an aid to his purposes, and accused Austria of break- 
ing the peace by invading the territory of his ally, the King 
of Sardinia. 

The real fault committed by Austria, under the circum- 
stances, was not in precipitating war, which could not well 
be avoided in the temper of her antagonists, but in putting, 
through court favour and privileges of rank, an incapable 
leader at the head of the army. Old Radetzky, the victor 
in the last war, was dead, but there were other able leaders 
who were thrust aside for the benefit of the Hungarian noble 
Franz Gyulai, a man without experience as commander-in- 
chief of an army. 

By his uncertain and dilatory movements Gyulai gave the 
Sardinians time to concentrate an army of 80,000 men aroimd 
the fortress of Alessandria, and lost all the advantage of 
being the first in the field. In early May the French army 
reached Italy, partly by way of the St Bernard Pass, partly 
by sea ; and Garibaldi, with his mountaineers, took up a 
position that was favourable for an attack on the right wing 
of the Austrians. 

Later in the month Napoleon himself appeared, his presence 
and the name he bore inspiring the soldiers with new valour, 
while his first order of the day, in which he recalled the 
glorious deeds which their fathers had done on those plains 
under his great-uncle, roused them to the highest enthusiasm. 
While assuming the title of commander-in-chief, he was wise 
enough to leave the conduct of the war to his abler sub- 
ordinates, MacMahon, Niel, and others. 
236 



THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON 

The Austrian general, having lost the opportunity to attack, 
was now put on the defensive, in which his incompetence 
was equally manifested. Being quite ignorant of the position 
of the foe, he sent Count Stadion, with 12,000 men, on a 
reconnaissance. An encounter took place at Montebello on 
May 20th, in which, after a sharp engagement, Stadion was 
forced to retreat. Gyulai directed his attention to that 
quarter, leaving Napoleon to march unmolested from Ales- 
sandria to the invasion of Lombardy. Gyulai now, aroused 
by the danger threatening Milan, began his retreat across 
the Ticino, which he had so uselessly crossed. 
The road to Milan crossed both the Ticino River and the 
Naviglio Grande, a broad and deep canal a few miles east 
of the river. Some distance farther on lies the village of 
Magenta, the scene of the first great battle of the war. 
Sixty years before, on those Lombard plains, Napoleon the 
Great had first lost, and then, by a happy chance, won the 
famous battle of Marengo. The Napoleon now in command 
was a very different man from the mighty soldier of the year 
1800, and the French escaped a disastrous rout only because 
the Austrians were led by a still worse general. The battle 
of Magenta is an illustration of the saying that victory comes 
to the army that makes the fewest blunders. 
The French pushed on, and first came into touch with the 
enemy at Buffalora, a village on the canal. Here a bloody 
struggle went on for hours, ending in the capture of the 
place by the Grenadiers of the Guard, who held on to it 
afterward with stubborn courage. 

The Battle of Magenta 

General MacMahon, in command of the advance, had his 
orders to march forward, whatever happened, to the church- 
tower of Magenta, and, in strict obedience, he left the 
grenadiers to hold their own at Buffalora, heedless of the 
fact that the reserves had not yet begun to cross the river. 

237 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

It was the 4th of June, and the day was well advanced when 
MacMahon came in contact with the Austrians at Magenta, 
and the great contest of the day began. 

It was a battle in which the commanders on both sides, 
with the exception of MacMahon, showed lack of military 
skill and the soldiers on both sides the staunchest courage. 
The Austrians seemed devoid of plan or system, and their 
several divisions were beaten in detail by the French ; their 
main column was taken between two fires and, desperately 
resisting, was forced back step by step upon Magenta, where 
the fight raged most fiercely round the church. From its 
tower the Austrian general and his staff watched the fortunes 
of the fray, and at sight of a body of reserves advancing to 
the support of MacMahon he ordered a retreat and the battle 
was at an end. 

MacMahon and Mellinet, whose grenadiers had held their 
own like bulldogs at Buffalora, had won the day for the 
French. Victor Emmanuel and the Sardinians did not 
reach the ground until after the battle was at an end. For 
his services MacMahon was made Marshal of France and 
Duke of Magenta. 

Possession of Lombardy 

The prize of this victory was the possession of Lombardy. 
Gyulai, unable to collect his scattered divisions, gave orders 
for a general retreat. Milan was evacuated with precipitate 
haste, and the garrisons were withdrawn from all the towns, 
leaving them to be occupied by the French and Italians. 
On the 8th of June Napoleon and Victor Emmanuel rode 
into Milan side by side, amid the loud acclamations of the 
people, who looked upon Magenta as an assurance of Italian 
freedom and unity. Meanwhile the Austrians retreated 
without interruption, not halting until they arrived at the 
Mincio, where they were protected by the famous Quadri- 
lateral, consisting of the four powerful fortresses of Peschiera, 
238 



THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON 

Mantua, Verona, and Legnago, the mainstay of the Austrian 
power in Italy. 

The French and ItaHans slowly pursued the retreating 
Austrians, and on the 23rd of June bivouacked on both 
banks of the Chiese River, about fifteen miles west of the 
Mincio. The Emperor Francis Joseph had recalled the 
incapable Gyulai, and, in hopes of inspiring his soldiers with 
new spirit, himself took command. The two emperors, 
neither of them soldiers, were thus pitted against each other, 
and Francis Joseph, eager to retrieve the recent disaster, 
resolved to quit his strong position of defence in the Quadri- 
lateral and assume the offensive. 

French Victory at Solferino 

At two o'clock in the morning of the 24th, the allies left 
their camping-ground, but as neither of the opposing armies 
had an efficient intelligence department the original plans 
miscarried, and both were taken by surprise when they came 
into touch a few hours later. 

The Austrians, superior in numbers to their opponents, 
were posted in a half-circle between the Mincio and 
Chiese, with the intention of pressing forward from these 
points upon a centre. But the line was extended too 
far, for the centre, which rested upon a height near the 
village of Solferino, was comparatively weak and without 
reserves, and Napoleon accordingly directed his chief strength 
against it. 

After a murderous conflict, in which the French commanders 
hurled continually renewed masses against the decisive posi- 
tion, while on the other side the Austrian reinforcements 
failed through lack of unity and decision, the heights were 
at length won by the French in spite of an heroic resistance, 
and the Austrian army was divided into two separate masses. 
A second attack which Napoleon promptly directed against 
Cavriana had a similar result ; for the commands given by 

239 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

the Austrian generals were confused and had no general and 
definite aim. 

The fate of the battle was already in a great measure decided, 
when a tremendous storm broke forth that put an end to 
the combat at most points, and gave the Austrians an op- 
portunity to retire in order. Only Benedek, who had twice 
beaten back the Sardinians at various points, continued the 
struggle for some hours longer. On the French side Marshal 
Niel had pre-eminently distinguished himself. It was a day 
of bloodshed ; the two great Powers had measured their 
strength against each other for twelve hours, and while the 
Austrians had to lament the loss of 13,000 dead and wounded, 
and 9000 prisoners, the loss of the allies (except in prisoners) 
was even greater, for repeated attacks had been made upon 
well-defended heights. 

Treaty of Peace 

The victories in Italy filled the French people with the 
warmest admiration for their emperor, they thinking, in 
their enthusiasm, that a true successor of Napoleon the 
Great had come to bring glory to their arms. Italy also was 
full of enthusiastic hope, fancying that the freedom and 
unity of the Italians was at last assured. Both nations were, 
therefore, bitterly disappointed in learning that the war was 
at an end, and that a hasty peace had been arranged between 
the emperors which left the hoped-for work but half achieved. 
Napoleon estimated his position better than his people. 
Despite his victories, his situation was one of danger and 
difficulty. The army had suffered severely in its brief 
campaign, and the Austrians were still in possession of the 
Quadrilateral, a square of powerful fortresses which he 
might seek in vain to reduce. And a threat of serious 
trouble had arisen in Germany. The victorious career of a new 
Napoleon in Italy was alarming. It was not easy to forget 
the past. The German Powers, though thc}^ had declined 
240 



THE AMBITION OF LOUIS NAPOLEON 

to come to the aid of Austria, were armed and ready and at any 
moment might begin a hostile movement upon the Rhine. 
Napoleon, wise enough to secure what he had won, without 
hazarding its loss, arranged a meeting with the Austrian 
Emperor, whom he found quite as ready for peace. The 
terms of the truce arranged between them were that Austria 
should abandon Lombardy to the line of the Mincio, almost 
its eastern boundary, and that Italy should form a con- 
federacy under the presidency of the Pope. In the treaty 
subsequently made only the first of these conditions was 
maintained, Lombardy passing to the King of Sardinia. He 
received also the small states of Central Italy, whose tyrants 
had fled, ceding to Napoleon, as a reward for his assistance, 
the realm of Savoy and the city and territory of Nice. 

Invasion of Mexico 

Napoleon III had now reached the summit of his career. In 
the succeeding years the French were to learn that they had 
put their faith in a hollow emblem of glory, and the emperor 
was to lose the prestige he had gained at Magenta and 
Solferino. His first serious mistake was when he yielded to the 
voice of ambition, and, taking advantage of the occupation of 
the Americans in their civil war, sent an army to invade 
Mexico. The ostensible purpose of this invasion was to collect 
a debt which the Mexicans had refused to pay, and Great 
Britain and Spain were induced to take part in the expedition. 
But their forces were withdrawn when they found that 
Napoleon had other purposes in view, and his army was left 
to fight its battles alone. After some sanguinary engage- 
ments, the Mexican army was broken into a series of guerilla 
bands, incapable of facing his well-drilled troops, and Napo- 
leon proceeded to reorganize Mexico as an empire, placing 
the Archduke Maximilian of Austria on the throne. 
All went well while the people of the United States were 
fighting for their national union, but when their war was over 

Q 241 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

the ambitious French Emperor was soon taught that he had 
committed a serious error. He was given plainly to under- 
stand that the French troops could only be kept in Mexico 
at the cost of a war with the United States, and he found it 
convenient to withdraw them early in 1867. They had no 
sooner gone than the Mexicans were in arms against Maxi- 
milian, whose rash acceptance of the advice of the clerical 
party and determination to remain quickly led to his capture 
and execution as a usurper. Thus ended in utter failure 
the most daring effort to ignore the ' Monroe Doctrine.' 

End of Napoleon's Career 

The inaction of Napoleon during the wars which Prussia 
fought with Denmark and Austria gave further blows to his 
prestige in France, and the opposition to his policy of personal 
government grew so strong that he felt himself obliged to 
submit his policy to a vote of the people. He was sustained 
by a large majority, perhaps obtained by the methods 
familiar to politicians. Certainly he perceived that his 
power was sinking. He was obliged to loosen the reins of 
government at home, in spite of the fact that the yielding 
of increased liberty to the people would diminish his own 
control. Finally, finding himself failing in health, confidence, 
and reputation, he yielded to advisers who convinced him 
that the only hope for his dynasty lay in a successful war. 
As a result he undertook the war of 1870 against Prussia. 
The story of this war will be given in a subsequent chapter. 
All that need be said here is that it proved the utter in- 
competence of Napoleon III in military matters, he being 
completely deceived in the condition of the French army 
and unwarrantably ignorant of that of the Germans. The 
conditions were such that victory for France was impossible, 
France losing its second empire and Napoleon his throne. 
He died two years later, an exile in England, that place of 
shelter for the royal refugees of France. 
242 



CHAPTER XV 

GARIBALDI AND ITALIAN UNITY 

Power of Austria broken 

The Carbonari : Mazzini and Garibaldi : Cavour, 
the Statesman : The Invasion of Sicily : Occupation 
of Naples : Victor Emmanuel takes Command : 
Watchword of the Patriots : Garibaldi marches 
against Rome : The Naval Battle of Lissa : Final 
Act of Italian Unity 
FROM the time of the fall of the Roman Empire until late 
in the nineteenth century, a period of some fourteen hundred 
years, Italy remained disunited, divided up among a series 
of states, small and large, hostile and peaceful, while its 
territory was made the battle-field of the surrounding 
Powers, the helpless prey of Germany, France, and Spain. 
Even the strong hand of Napoleon failed to bring it unity, 
and after his fall its condition was worse than before, for 
Austria held most of the north and exerted a controlling 
power over the remainder of the peninsula, so that the fair 
form of liberty fled in dismay from its shores. 
But the work of Napoleon had inspired the patriots of 
Italy with a new sentiment, that of union. Before the 
Napoleonic era the thought of a united Italy scarcely existed, 
and patriotism meant adherence to Sardinia, Naples, or some 
other of the many kingdoms and duchies. After that era 
union became the watchword of the revolutionists, who felt 
that the only hope of giving Italy a position of dignity and 
honour among the nations lay in making it one country 
under one ruler. The history of the nineteenth century in 
Italy is the record of the attempt to reach this end, and its 
successful accomplishment. And on that record the names of 
two men appear prominently, Mazzini, the indefatigable 
conspirator, and Garibaldi, the valorous fighter ; to whose 
names should be added the most important of them all, 
that of the eminent statesman, Count Cavour, and that of 

243 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

the man who reaped the benefit of their patriotic labours, 
Victor Emmanuel, the first king of united Italy. 

The Carbonari 

The basis of the revolutionary movements in Italy was the 
secret political association known as the Carbonari, formed 
early in the nineteenth century and including members of 
all classes in its ranks. In 1820 this powerful society was 
strong enough to invade Naples with an army and force 
from the king an oath to observe the new constitution which 
it had prepared. The revolution was put down in the 
following year by the Austrians, acting as the agents of the 
' Holy Alliance ' — the compact of Austria, Prussia, and 
Russia. 

An ordinance was passed condemning any one who should 
attend a meeting of the Carbonari to capital punishment. 
But the society continued to exist, despite this severe 
enactment, and was at the root of many of the outbreaks 
that took place in Italy from 1820 onward. Mazzini, 
Garibaldi, and all the leading patriots were members of this 
powerful organization, which was daring enough to condemn 
Napoleon III to death, and almost to succeed in his assassi- 
nation, for his failure to live up to his obligations as one of its 
members. 

Mazzini and Garibaldi 

Giuseppe Mazzini, a native of Genoa, became a member of 
the Carbonari in 1830. His activity in revolutionary move- 
ments caused him soon after to be proscribed, and in 1831 
he sought Marseilles, where he organized a new political 
society called ' Young Italy,' whose watchword was " God 
and the People," and whose basic principle was the union 
of the several states and kingdoms into one nation, as the 
only true foundation of Italian liberty. This purpose he 
avowed in his writings and pursued through exile and 
244 



GARIBALDI AND ITALIAN UNITY 

adversity with inflexible constancy, and it is largely due to 
the work of this earnest patriot that Italy to-day is a single 
kingdom instead of a medley of separate states. Only in 
one particular did he fail. His persistent purpose was to 
establish a republic, not a monarchy. 

While Mazzini was thus working with his pen, his com- 
patriot, Giuseppe Garibaldi, was working as earnestly with 
his sword. This daring soldier, a native of Nice and reared 
to a life on the sea, was banished as a revolutionist in 1834, 
and the succeeding fourteen years of his life were largely 
spent in South America, in whose wars he played a leading 
part. 

The revolution of 1848 opened Italy to these two patriots, 
and they hastened to return ; Garibaldi to offer his services 
to Charles Albert of Sardinia, by whom, however, he was 
treated with coldness and distrust. Mazzini, after founding 
the Roman Republic in 1849, called upon Garibaldi to come 
to its defence, and the latter displayed the greatest heroism 
in the contest against the Neapolitan and French invaders. 
He escaped from Rome on its capture by the French, and, 
after many desperate conflicts and adventures with the 
Austrians, was again driven into exile, and in 1850 became 
a resident of New York, where he settled as a tallow-chandler. 
Five years later he returned to Europe and took a farm in 
Sardinia, but the war in 1859 of Napoleon III and Victor 
Emmanuel against the Austrians in Lombardy opened a new 
and promising channel for the devotion of Garibaldi to his 
native land. Being appointed major-general and com- 
missioned to raise a volunteer corps, he organized the hardy 
body of mountaineers called the ' Chasseurs of the Alps,' 
and with them performed prodigies of valour on the plains 
of Lombardy, winning victories over the Austrians at 
Varese, Como, and other places. In his ranks was his fellow- 
patriot Mazzini. 

The success of the French and Sardinians in Lombardy 

245 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

during this war stirred Italy to its centre. The Grand Duke 
of Tuscany fled to Austria. The Duchess of Parma sought 
refuge in Switzerland. The Duke of Modena found shelter 
in the Austrian camp. Everywhere the brood of tyrants 
took to flight. Bologna threw off its allegiance to the Pope, 
and proclaimed the King of Sardinia dictator. Several other 
towns in the States of the Church did the same. In the 
terms of the truce between Louis Napoleon and Francis 
Joseph the rulers of these realms were to resume their reigns 
if the people would permit. But the people would not 
permit, and these minor states were all annexed to 
Sardinia, which country was greatly expanded as a result of 
the war. 

Cavour, the Statesman 

It will not suffice to give all the credit for these revolutionary 
movements to Mazzini, the organizer, Garibaldi, the soldier, 
and the ambitious monarchs of France and Sardinia. More 
important than king and emperor was the eminent statesman. 
Count Cavour, Prime Minister of Sardinia from 1852. It is 
to this able man that the honour of the unification of Italy 
most fully belongs, though he did not live to see it in its 
entirety. He sent a Sardinian army to the assistance of 
France and England in the Crimea in 1855, and by this act 
gave his state a standing among the Powers of Europe. 
He secured liberty of the press and favoured toleration in 
religion and freedom of trade. He rebelled against the 
dominion of the Papacy, and devoted his abilities to 
the liberation and unity of Italy, undismayed by the 
angry fulminations from the Vatican. The war of 1859 
was largely his work, and he had the satisfaction of 
seeing Sardinia increased, as has been said, by the addition 
of Lombardy, Tuscany, Parma, and Modena. A great 
step had been taken in the work to which he had devoted 
his life. 
246 



GARIBALDI AND ITALIAN UNITY 

TheIInvasion of Sicily 

The next step in the great work was taken by Garibaldi, 
who now struck at the powerful kingdom of Naples and 
Sicily in the south. It seemed a difficult task. Francis II, 
the son and successor of the infamous ' King Bomba,' had 
a well-organized army of 150,000 men. But his father's 
tyranny had filled the land with secret societies, and for- 
tunately at this time the Swiss mercenaries were recalled 
home, leaving to Francis only his native troops, many of 
them disloyal at heart to his cause. This was the critical 
interval which Mazzini and Garibaldi chose for their work. 
At the beginning of April, 1860, the signal was given by 
separate insurrections in Messina and Palermo. These were 
easily suppressed by the troops in garrison ; but though both 
cities were declared in a state of siege, demonstrations took 
place by which the revolutionary chiefs excited the public 
mind. On the 6th of May, Garibaldi started with two 
steamers from Genoa with about a thousand Italian volun- 
teers, and on the 11th landed near Marsala, on the west coast 
of Sicily. He proceeded to the mountains, and near Salemi 
gathered round him the scattered bands of the free corps. By 
the 14th his army had increased to 4000 men. He now issued 
a proclamation, in which he took upon himself the dictatorship 
of Sicily, in the name of Victor Emmanuel, King of Italy. 
After waging various successful combats under the most 
difficult circumstances, Garibaldi advanced upon the capital, 
announcing his arrival by beacon-fires kindled at night. On 
the 27th he was in front of the Porta Termina of Palermo, 
and at once gave the signal for the attack. The people rose 
in mass, and assisted the operations of the besiegers by 
barricade-fighting in the streets. In a few hours half the 
town was in Garibaldi's hands. But now General Lanza, 
whom the young king had dispatched with strong reinforce- 
ments to Sicily, furiously bombarded the insurgent city, 
so that Palermo was reduced almost to a heap of ruins, 

24T 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

At this juncture, by the mediation of an EngHsh admiral, 
an armistice was concluded, which led to the departure of 
the Neapolitan troops and war vessels and the surrender of 
the town to Garibaldi, who thus, with a band of 5000 badly 
armed followers, had gained a signal advantage over a regular 
army of 25,000 men. This event had tremendous conse- 
quences, for it showed the utter hollowness of the Neapolitan 
government, while Garibaldi's fame was everywhere spread 
abroad. The glowing fancy of the Italians beheld in him 
the national hero before whom every enemy would bite the 
dust. This idea seemed to extend even to the Neapolitan 
court itself, where all was doubt, confusion, and dismay. 
The king hastily summoned a Liberal ministry, and offered 
to restore the constitution of 1848, but the general verdict 
was " too late," and his proclamation fell flat on a people 
who had no trust in Bourbon faith. 

The arrival of Garibaldi on the mainland was not long 
delayed, and was enough to set in blaze all the combustible 
materials in the state of Naples. Six weeks after the 
surrender of Palermo he marched against Messina. On the 
21st of July the fortress of Melazzo was evacuated, and a 
week afterwards all Messina except the citadel was given up. 

Occupation of Naples 

Europe was astounded at the remarkable success of Gari- 
baldi's handful of men. On the mainland his good fortune 
was still more astonishing. He had hardly landed — which 
he did almost in the face of the Neapolitan fleet — when 
Reggio was surrendered and its garrison withdrew. His 
progress through the south of the kingdom was like a 
triumphal procession. At the end of August he was at 
Cosenza ; on the 5th of September at Eboli, near Salerno. 
No resistance appeared. His very name seemed to work 
like magic on the population. The capital had been declared 
in a state of siege, and on September 6th the king took to 
248 



GARIBALDI AND ITALIAN UNITY 

flight, retiring, with the 4000 men still faithful to him, behind 
the Volturno. The next day Garibaldi, with a few followers, 
entered Naples, whose populace received him with frantic 
shouts of welcome. 

The remarkable achievements of Garibaldi filled all Italy 
with overmastering excitement. He had declared that he 
would proclaim the kingdom of Italy from the heart of its 
capital city, and nothing less than this would content the 
people. The position of the Pope had become serious. He 
refused to grant the reforms suggested by the French 
Emperor, and threatened with excommunication any one 
who should meddle with the domain of the Church. Money 
was collected from faithful Catholics throughout the world, 
a summons was issued calling for recruits to the holy army 
of the Pope, and the exiled French General Lamoriciere was 
given the chief command of the troops, composed of men 
who had flocked to Rome from many nations. It was 
hoped that the name of the celebrated French leader would 
have a favourable influence on the troops of the French 
garrison of Rome. 

The settlement of the perilous situation seemed to rest with 
Louis Napoleon. If he had let Garibaldi have his way the 
latter would, no doubt, have quickly ended the temporal 
sovereignty of the Pope and made Rome the capital of Italy. 
But Napoleon seems to have arranged with Cavour to leave 
the King of Sardinia free to take possession of Naples, 
Umbria, and the other provinces, provided that Rome and 
the ' patrimony of St Peter ' were left intact. 

Victor Emmanuel takes Command 

At the beginning of September two Sardinian army corps, 
under Fanti and Cialdini, marched to the borders of the 
States of the Church. Lamoriciere advanced against Cialdini 
with his motley troops, but was quickly defeated, and on the 
following day was besieged in the fortress of Ancona. On 

249 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

the 29th he and the garrison surrendered as prisoners of war. 
On the 9th of October Victor Emmanuel arrived and took 
command. There was no longer a papal army to oppose 
him, and the march southward proceeded without a check. 
The object of the king in assuming the chief command was 
to complete the conquest of the kingdom of Naples, in con- 
junction with Garibaldi. For though Garibaldi had entered 
the capital in triumph, the progress on the line of the Vol- 
turno had been slow ; and the expectation that the Nea- 
politan army would go over to the invaders in a mass had 
not been realized. The great majority of the troops re- 
mained faithful to the flag, so that Garibaldi, although his 
irregular bands amounted to more than 25,000 men, could 
not hope to drive away King Francis, or to take the fortresses 
of Capua and Gaeta, without the help of Sardinia. Against 
the diplomatic statesman Cavour, who fostered no illusions, 
and saw the condition of affairs in its true light, the simple, 
honest Garibaldi cherished a deep aversion. He could never 
forgive Cavour for having given up Nice, Garibaldi's native 
town, to the French. On the other hand, he felt attracted 
toward the king, who, in his opinion, seemed to be the man 
raised up by Providence for the liberation of Italy. 
Accordingly, when Victor Emmanuel entered Sessa, at the 
head of his army. Garibaldi was easily induced to place his 
dictatorial power in the hands of the king, to whom he left 
the completion of the work of the union of Ital}^ After 
greeting Victor Emmanuel with the title of King of Italy, 
and giving the required resignation of his power, with the 
words, " Sire, I obey," he entered Naples, riding beside the 
king ; and then, after recommending his companions in arms 
to his majesty's special favour, he retired to his home on the 
island of Caprera, refusing to receive a reward, in any shape 
or form, for his services to the state and its head. 
The progress of the Sardinian army compelled Francis to 
give up the line of the Volturno, and he eventually took 
250 



GARIBALDI AND ITALIAN UNITY 

refuge, with his best troops, in the fortress of Gaeta. On 
the maintenance of this fortress hung the fate of the kingdom 
of Naples. Its defence is the only bright point in the career 
of the feeble Francis, whose courage was aroused by the 
heroic resolution of his young wife, the Bavarian Princess 
Mary. For three months the defence continued. But no 
European Power came to the aid of the king, disease appeared 
with scarcity of food and of munitions of war, and the 
garrison was at length forced to capitulate. The fall of 
Gaeta was practically the completion of the great work of the 
unification of Italy. Only Rome and Venice remained to be 
added to the united kingdom. On February 18th, 1861, 
Victor Emmanuel assembled at Turin the deputies of all the 
states that acknowledged his supremacy, and in their 
presence assumed the title of King of Italy, which he was 
the first to bear. Four months afterward Count Cavour, 
to whom this great work was largely due, died. He had 
lived long enough to see the purpose of his life practically 
accomplished. 

Watchword of the Patriots 

Great as had been the change which two years had made, 
the patriots of Italy were not satisfied. " Free from the 
Alps to the Adriatic ! " was their cry ; " Rome and Venice ! " 
became the watchword of the revolutionists. Mazzini, who 
had sought to found a republic, was far from content, and the 
agitation went on. Garibaldi was drawn into it, and made 
bitter complaint of the treatment his followers had received. 
In 1862, disheartened at the inaction of the king, he deter- 
mined to undertake against Rome an expedition like that 
which he had led against Naples two years before. 
In June he sailed from Genoa and landed at Palermo, where 
he was quickly joined by an enthusiastic party of volunteers. 
They supposed that the government secretly favoured their 
design, but the king had no idea of fighting against the French 

251 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

troops in Rome and arousing international complications, 
and he energetically warned all Italians against taking part 
in revolutionary enterprises. 

Garibaldi marches against Rome 

But Garibaldi persisted in his design. When his way was 
barred by the garrison of Messina he turned aside to Catania, 
where he embarked with 2000 volunteers, declaring he would 
enter Rome as a victor, or perish beneath its walls. He 
landed at Melito on the 24th of August, and threw himself 
at once, with his followers, into the Calabrian mountains. 
But his enterprise was quickly and disastrously ended. 
General Cialdini dispatched a division of the regular army, 
under Colonel Pallavicini, against the volunteer bands. 
At Aspromonte, on the 29th of August, the two forces came 
into collision. A chance shot was followed by several volleys 
from the regulars. Garibaldi forbade his men to return the 
fire of their fellow- subjects of the Italian kingdom. He was 
wounded, and taken prisoner with his followers, a few of 
whom had been slain in the short combat. A government 
steamer carried the wounded chief to Varignano, where he 
was held in a sort of honourable imprisonment, and had to 
undergo a tedious and painful operation for the healing of his 
wound. He had at least the consolation that all Europe 
looked with sympathy and interest upon the unfortunate 
hero ; and a general sense of relief was felt when, restored to 
health, he was set free, and allowed to return to his rocky 
island of Caprera. 

Victor Emmanuel was seeking to accomplish his end by safer 
means. The French garrison of Rome was the obstacle in 
his way, and this was finally removed through a treaty with 
Louis Napoleon in September, 1864, the emperor agreeing to 
withdraw his troops during the succeeding two years, in 
which the Pope was to raise an army large enough to defend 
his dominions. Florence was to replace Turin as the capital 
252 



GARIBALDI AND ITALIAN UNITY 

of Italy. This arrangement created such disturbances in 
Turin that the king was forced to leave that city hastily for 
his new capital. In December, 1866, the last of the French 
troops departed from Rome, in despite of the efforts of the 
Pope to retain them. By their withdrawal Italy was freed 
from the presence of foreign soldiers for the first time 
probably for a thousand years. 

In 1866 came an event which reacted favourably for Italy, 
though her part in it was the reverse of triumphant. This 
was the war between Prussia and Austria. Italy was in 
alliance with Prussia, and Victor Emmanuel hastened to lead 
an army across the Mincio to the invasion of Venetia, the last 
Austrian province in Italy. Garibaldi at the same time was 
to invade the Tyrol with his volunteers. The enterprise 
ended in disaster. The Austrian troops, under the Archduke 
Albert, encountered the Italians at Custozza and gained a 
brilliant victory, despite the much greater numbers of the 
Italians. 

Fortunately for Italy, the Austrians had been unsuccessful 
in the north, and the emperor, with the hope of gaining the 
alliance of France and breaking the compact between Italy 
and Prussia, decided to cede Venetia to Italy through Louis 
Napoleon. His purpose failed. All Napoleon did in response 
was to act as a peacemaker, while the Italian King, although 
the possession of Venetia was essential to the unity of his 
kingdom, refused to accept it as the price of deserting his 
ally. Though the Austrians were retreating from a country 
which no longer belonged to them, the invasion of Venetia 
by the Italians continued, and several conflicts with the 
Austrian army took place. 

The Naval Battle of Lissa 

The most popular and interesting event of the war was 
perhaps the naval battle of Lissa, in which the value of iron- 
clads was for the first time put to the proof. Admiral 

253 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

Tegethoff, who used his seven ironclads as rams, completely- 
routed the Italian fleet of ten ironclads and numerous 
wooden ships under Admiral Persano. 

Final Act of Italian Unity 

But although Italy was defeated both by land and sea, she 
gained, as we shall see when dealing with the Prusso- Austrian 
side of this Seven Weeks' War, the valuable prize of Venetia 
as a result of the war, and soon afterwards Victor Emmanuel 
entered Venice in triumph. Thus was completed the second 
act in the unification of Italy. 

The national party, with Garibaldi at its head, still aimed at 
the possession of Rome, as the historic capital of the penin- 
sula. In 1867 he made a second attempt to capture Rome, 
but the papal army, strengthened with a new French auxiliary 
force, defeated his badly armed volunteers at Mentana, a 
few miles north-east of the Eternal City, and he was taken 
prisoner and held captive for a time, after which he was 
sent back to Caprera. This led to the French army of 
occupation being withdrawn to Civita Vecchia, where it was 
kept for several years. 

The final act came as a consequence of the Franco-German 
War of 1870, which rendered necessary the withdrawal of the 
French troops from Italy. The Pope was requested to make 
a peaceful abdication. As he refused this, the States of the 
Church were occupied by the Italian National Army up to 
the walls of the capital, and a three hours' cannonade of the 
city sufficed to bring the long strife to an end on September 
20th, 1870. Rome became the capital of Italy in place of 
Florence, and the whole peninsula, for the first time since 
the fall of the ancient Roman empire, was concentrated 
into a single nation, under one king. 



254 



CHAPTER XVI 

THE EXPANSION OF GERMANY 

Beginnings of Modern World-Power 

William I of Prussia : Bismarck''s Early Career : 
The SchleswigrHolstein Question : Conquest of the 
Duchies : Bismarck'' s Wider Views : War Forced on 
Austria : The War in Italy : Austria's Signal Defeat 
at Koniggrdtz : The Treaty of Prague : Germany 
after 1866 
THE effort made in 1848 to unify Germany had failed for 
two reasons — first,' because its promoters had not sufficiently 
clear and precise ideas, and, secondly, because they lacked 
material strength. Until 1859 reaction against novelties 
and their advocates dominated Germany, and even Prussia, 
as well as Austria. The Italian War, as was easily foreseen, 
and as wary counsellors had told Napoleon III, revived the 
agitation in favour of unity beyond the Rhine. After 
September 16th, 1859, it had its centre in the national circle 
of Frankfort and its manifesto in the proclamation which 
this issued on September 4th, 1860, a proclamation whose 
terms, though in a moderate form, clearly announced the 
design of excluding Austria from Germany. It was the 
object of those favouring unity, but with more decision than 
in 1848, to place the group of German states under Prussia's 
imperial direction. The accession of a new king, William I, 
who was already in advance called William the Conqueror, 
was likely to bring this project to a successful issue. The 
future German Emperor's predecessor, Frederick William IV, 
with the same ambition as his brother, had too many 
prejudices and too much confusion in his mind to be capable 
of realizing it. Becoming insane toward the close of 1857, 
he had to leave the government to William, who, officially 
regent after October 7th, 1858, became king on January 2nd, 
1861. 



255 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

William I of Prussia 

The new sovereign was almost sixty-four years old. The 
son of Frederick William III and Queen Louisa, while yet a 
child he had witnessed the disasters of his country and his 
home, and then as a young man had had his first experience 
of arms toward the close of the Napoleonic wars. Obliged 
to flee during the revolt of 1848, he had afterward, by his 
pro-English attitude at the time of the Crimean War, won 
the sympathies of the Liberals, who joyfully acclaimed his 
accession. To lower him to the rank of a party leader was 
to judge him erroneously. William I was above all a 
Prussian prince, serious, industrious, and permeated with 
a sense of his duties to the state, the first of which, according 
to the men of his house, has ever been to aggrandize it ; 
and he was also imbued with the idea that the state was 
essentially incarnate in him. 

" I am the first king," he said at his coronation, " to assume 
power since the throne has been surrounded with modern 
institutions, hut I do not forget that the crown comes from 
Godr 

He had none of the higher talents that mark great men, 
but he possessed the two essential qualities of the head of a 
state— firmness and judgment. He showed this by the way 
in which he chose and supported those who built up his 
greatness, and this merit is rarer than is generally supposed. 
A soldier above all, he saw that Prussia's ambitions could 
be realized only with a powerful army. 

Advised by Von Moltke, the army's chief of staff after 1858, 
and Von Roon, the great administrator, who filled the office 
of Minister of War in the face of widespread popular opposi- 
tion, he changed the organization of 1814, which had become 
insufficient. Instead of brigades formed in war time, half 
of men in active service and half of reserves, regiments were 
now recruited by a three (instead of a two) years' service 
and reinforced in case of need by the classes of reserves. 
256 




THE GRAND DUKE NICHOLAS 

Photo Boissonnas and Eggler 



256 



THE EXPANSION OF GERMANY 

The Landwehr, divided into two classes (twenty-five to 
thirty-two years and thirty-two to thirty-nine), was grouped 
separately. This system gave seven hundred thousand 
trained soldiers, Prussia having then seventeen million 
inhabitants. This was more than either France or Austria 
had. The equipment was also superior. Frederick William I 
had already said that the first result to be obtained in this 
direction was celerity in firing. This was assured by the 
invention of the needle gun. 

Bismauck's Early Career 

Such a transformation entailed heavy expenses. The Prus- 
sian Chamber, made up for the most part of Liberals, did 
not appreciate its utility. Moreover, it was not in favour 
of increasing the number of officers, because they were 
recruited from the nobility. After having yielded with bad 
grace in 1860, the deputies refused the grants in 1861 and 
1862. It was at this time that Bismarck was called to the 
ministry (September 24th, 1862). Otto von Bismarck-Schon- 
hausen, born April 1st, 1815, belonged by birth to that minor 
Prussian nobility, rough and realistic, but faithful and 
disciplined, which has ever been one of the Prussian state's 
sources of strength. After irregular studies at the University 
of Gottingen, he had entered the administration, but had 
not been able to stay in it, and had lived on his rather 
moderate estates until 1847. The Diet of that year, to which 
he had been elected, brought him into prominence. There 
he distinguished himself in the Junker (landed gentry) party 
by his marked contempt for the Liberalism then in vogue 
and his insolence to the Liberals. Frederick William IV en- 
trusted him with representing Prussia at Frankfort (1851-59), 
where he assumed the same attitude toward the Austrians. 
He was afterward ambassador at St Petersburg, and had 
just been sent to Paris in the same capacity when he became 
Prime Minister. 

R 257 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

His character was a marked one. In it was evident a taste 
for sarcastic raillery and a sort of frankness, apparently 
brutal, but really more refined than cruel. His qualities 
were those of all great politicians, embracing energy, decision, 
and realism ; that is, talent for appreciating all things at 
their proper value and for not letting himself be duped 
either by appearances, by current theories, or by words. 
Very unfavourably received by the parliament, he paid little 
heed to the furious opposition of the deputies, causing to be 
promulgated by ordinance the budget which they refused 
him, suppressing hostile newspapers, treating his adversaries 
with studied insolence, and declaring to them that, if the 
Chamber had its rights, the king also had his, and that force 
must settle the matter in such a case. To get rid of these 
barren struggles, he took advantage of the first incident of 
foreign politics. The Schleswig-Holstein question furnished 
him with the desired opportunity. 

The Schleswig-Holstein Question 

This was the first of the various important questions of 
international policy in which Bismarck became concerned. 
The united provinces of Schleswig-Holstein, lying on the 
southern border of Denmark, had long been notable as a 
source of continual strife between her and Germany. The 
majority of the inhabitants of Schleswig were Danes, but 
those of Holstein were very largely Germans, and the question 
of their true national affiliation lay open from the time of 
their original union in 1386. It became insistent after the 
middle of the nineteenth century. 

The Treaty of London in 1852 had maintained the union of 
Holstein with Denmark, but did not put a definite end to the 
demands of the Germans, who held that it was a constituent 
part of Germany. The quarrel was renewed in 1855 over a 
common constitution given by King Frederick VII to all his 
states. This was abolished in 1858, and in 1863 the Danes, 
258 



THE EXPANSION OF GERMANY 

in defiance of the Treaty of London, took steps which resulted 
in making Schleswig a mere province of their country. These 
steps at once led to a protest from the German Diet. 
In all this there was food for an indefinite contest, for, on the 
one hand, Schleswig did not form a part of the Confederation, 
but, on the other, certain historical bonds attached it to 
Holstein, and its population was mixed. The death of 
Frederick VII (November 15th, 1863), who was succeeded 
by a distant relative, Christian IX, further complicated the 
quarrel. The Duke of Augustenburg claimed the three 
duchies, though he had previously renounced them. The 
German Diet, on its part, wanted the Danish constitution 
abolished in Schleswig. 

The dream of the petty German states hostile to Prussia, 
and especially of the Saxon minister. Von Beust, was to 
strengthen their party by the creating of a new duchy. 
Bismarck admirably outplayed everybody. He knew that 
the Great Powers were at odds with one another over Poland, 
and he had very cleverly made sure of Russia's friendship. 
Great Britain took no active part in the struggle, though 
had she been able to count on the co-operation of France 
she might have done so. The Prince of Wales had recently 
married the daughter of Christian IX, afterward Queen 
Alexandra, and the people were for the most part in favour 
of going to the assistance of Denmark ; but Queen Victoria, 
still largely influenced by her late husband, the Prince 
Consort, toward pro-German ideas, was not in favour of 
active interference and counselled peace and conferences. 
At this stage, had the Danes yielded to the necessities of the 
situation and withdrawn from Schleswig under protest, the 
European Powers would probably have intervened and a 
congress would have restored Schleswig to the Danish realm. 
Bismarck prevented this by a cunning stratagem, and suc- 
ceeded in inducing Denmark to remain defiant. As a con- 
sequence, on the 1st of February, 1864, the combined forces 

259 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

of Prussia and Austria crossed the Eider and invaded the 
province. 

It was a movement to regain to Germany a section held to 
be non-Danish in population and retained by Denmark 
against the traditions and the will of its people. Austria 
had been easily drawn into the movement by Bismarck's 
shrewd policy. Though the matter did not directly appeal 
to her, she did not wish to appear less German than Prussia, 
as that would have been tantamount to her giving up all 
claim to being the premier German state ; besides which, 
in the presence of the enmity of France she could not afford 
to risk a rupture with her powerful neighbour. 
It was not the original intention to go beyond the borders 
of the duchies and invade Denmark, but when Christian IX 
tried to resist the invasion this was done. The Danewerk 
and the Schlei were forced, and the Danish army was de- 
feated at Flensburg and driven back into Diippel, which 
was taken by assault. A truce was now arranged and a 
conference of the Great Powers was opened at London 
(April 25th to June 25th). Again through the astuteness 
of Bismarck it brought about no result, and through the 
very real fear of widely-extending complications throughout 
Europe none of the Powers could see its way to armed 
intervention. The war was resumed, and finally Jutland 
was invaded and conquered. Von Moltke was already 
preparing for a landing in Fuenen when Christian IX 
gave up all the duchies by the Vienna preliminaries (August 
1st), confirmed by treaty on October 30th following. 

Conquest of the Duchies 

The fate of the conquest remained to be decided upon. 

Bismarck settled it, after a pretence of investigation, by 

concluding that the rights of King Christian over the duchies 

were far superior to those of the Duke of Augustenburg, 

whose dynastic claim had been done away with by his father 

260 



THE EXPANSION OF GERMANY 

who had renounced the rights of himself and his family in 
return for an annuity, and that as Prussia and Austria had 
won them from the king by conquest, they had become the 
lawful owners. An agreement was made in which Holstein 
was assigned to Austria and Schleswig to Prussia, and for the 
time the question seemed settled. 

Bismarck's Wider Views 

This was far from being the case. Bismarck held views of 
far more expanded scope. He wanted to exclude Austria 
from the German confederation, and to do so desired war 
with that country as the only practical means of gaining his 
ends. In 1865 he made the significant remark that a single 
battle in Bohemia would decide everything and that Prussia 
would win that battle. A remark like this was indicative 
of the purpose entertained and the events soon to follow. 
In such a war, however, it was important to secure the 
neutrality of France. The alert Prussian statesman had 
already assured himself of that of Russia. To gain France 
to his side he held an interview with Napoleon III at Biarritz 
in October, 1865. Little is known of what actually happened 
at this secret conference of two, but what is certain is that 
Bismarck came away with the knowledge that he could 
count on France not attacking him, and also on her using 
her influence on Italy to second him actively in his schemes 
against Austria. It is certain too, whatever Napoleon may 
have thought, that Bismarck did not promise to compensate 
him either by the cession of any part of German territory 
west of the Rhine, or by the acquisition of Belgium ; but 
that Napoleon should imagine this to be the case was, of 
course, all to the good, from Bismarck's point of view. 
Napoleon's object was to intervene as a peacemaker at the 
end of the war, when he would be in such a position that he 
could make sure that in the rearrangement of territory that 
would take place France would not be left out in the cold. 

261 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

Whatever Napoleon's views, Bismarck saw that he was safe 
from any interference on the part of France, and returned 
with the fixed design of driving Austria to the wall. 

War forced on Austria 

Steps were at once taken by Bismarck toward the alliance 
with Italy, and Austria, getting wind of this movement and 
realizing what it meant, resolved to take measures accord- 
ingly. So, to ingratiate herself with the lesser German states, 
she made common cause with them in the matter of the 
promotion of the Duke of Augustenburg's claims on Schleswig- 
Holstein. Nothing could have suited Bismarck better ; it 
was the excuse he wanted. He hurried on his treaty with 
Italy and before long it was agreed that if Prussia found 
herself at war with Austria within the three months following 
Italy should go to her assistance. 

Meanwhile Austria had ordered a partial mobilization of her 
forces, a step which called forth a similar order on the part 
of Prussia. 

Bismarck was now invited to lay the Austro-Prussian 
dispute before the Diet ; he answered by asking that an 
assembly elected by universal suffrage be called to discuss 
the question of federal reform. Austria then offered to 
disarm in Bohemia if Prussia would do so on its part, but 
Bismarck demanded, in addition, disarmament in Venetia, 
a condition he knew to be unacceptable. On May 7th, 1866, 
he declared he could not accept the Diet's intervention in 
the duchies question, and on the 8th ordered the mobilization 
of the entire Prussian army. 

Napoleon III at this juncture proposed the holding of a 
congress for settling the duchies question and that of federal 
reform. Thiers had warned him in vain, in an admirable 
speech delivered on May 3rd, that France had everything 
to lose by aiding in bringing about the unity of Germany. 
The emperor obstinately persisted but his proposition failed 
262 



THE EXPANSION OF GERMANY 

through the refusal of Austria and the petty states to take 
part in it. On May 5th Austria made a desperate bid for 
Italy's neutrality ; she offered her, through the Emperor 
Napoleon, the whole of Venetia. Italy's perplexity was 
extreme : she could obtain all she wanted without striking 
a blow ; but to do so would mean the loss of her honour, 
the betraying of Prussia, and going back on that ' scrap of 
paper,' her treaty, and she refused. 

Bismarck acted in a far clearer manner than the French 
Emperor. On June 5th, General von Gablenz, the Austrian 
governor of Holstein, convened the states of that country, 
Austria declaring that the object of this measure was to 
enable the Federal Diet to settle the question. A German 
force under General Manteuffel at once invaded the duchy 
and, having far superior forces at his disposal, took possession 
of it. On the 10th, Prussia asked the different German 
states to accept a new constitution based on the exclusion 
of Austria, the election of a parliament by universal suffrage, 
the creation of a strong federal power and a common army. 
The Diet, most of whose members were under the influence 
of Austria, answered by voting the federal execution against 
Prussia, a step which, in the circumstances, was clearly 
impolitic as well as unconstitutional. On this the Prussian 
envoy, Savigny, withdrew, declaring that his sovereign 
ceased to recognize the Confederation. 

Events proved how correctly Bismarck had judged in his 
confidence in Prussia's military strength. The Prussian 
forces amounted to 330,000 men, who were to be aided in 
the south by 240,000 Italians. Austria had 335,000 troops 
and its German allies 146,000. Generally the last-named 
had little zeal. 

The Austrian Government acted slowly, while its adversary 
vigorously assumed the offensive. On June 16th, after an 
unavailing notice, the Prussian troops invaded Saxony and 
occupied it without resistance, the Saxon army withdrawing 

263 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

to Bohemia. The same was the case in Hesse, whose Grand 
Duke was taken prisoner, while his army joined the Bavarians. 
Still less fortunate was the King of Hanover, who did 
not even save his army, which, also retreating toward the 
south, was surrounded and obliged to capitulate at Langen- 
salza (June 29th). 

In the south the Prussian General Vogel von Falkenstein, 
who had but 57,000 men against over a 100,000, took ad- 
vantage of the fact that his adversaries had separated into 
two masses, the one at Frankfort and the other at Meiningen, 
to beat them separately, the Bavarians at Kissingen (July 
10th) and the Prince of Hesse, commanding the other 
army, at Aschaffenburg (July 14th). On the 16th the 
Prussians entered Frankfort, which they overwhelmed 
with requisitions and demands for contributions. General 
Manteuffel, Falkenstein's successor, then drove the federal 
armies from the line of the Tauber, where they had united, 
back to Wiirzburg. On the 28th an armistice was concluded. 

The War in Italy 

The Italians had been less successful. Archduke Albert, 
who commanded in Venetia, had only 70,000 men, but they 
were Croatian Slavs, that is, Austria's best troops. Con- 
fronting him, Victor Emmanuel commanded 124,000 men 
on the Chiese and Cialdini 80,000 in the neighbourhood of 
Ferrara. They proved unable to act together. Cialdini 
let himself be kept in check by a mere handful of troops, 
while the Austrian archduke attacked the Italian royal army 
at Custozza. Serious errors in tactics and panic in an Italian 
brigade, which fled before three platoons of lancers that had 
the audacity to charge it, gave victory to the Austrians. 
Cialdini had remained behind the Po. Garibaldi, who had 
undertaken, with 36,000 men, to conquer the Trent region, 
defended by only 13,000 regulars and 4000 militia under 
General von Kuhn, found himself not only repulsed in every 
264 



THE EXPANSION OF GERMANY 

attack, but, had it not been for the evacuation of Venetia, 
would have been pursued on Itahan territory. 
The battle of Lissa, which took place at sea, has been 
referred to in the preceding chapter. 

Austria's Signal Defeat at Koniggratz 
It was not on these events that the outcome of the war was 
to depend, but on the victory or defeat of the chief Austrian 
army. The forces of the two Powers on the Silesian and 
Saxon frontier were almost equal ; but the Austrian com- 
mander-in-chief, Benedek, brave and brilhant as a division 
leader, proved unequal to his present task. He dalhed m 
Moravia until June 16th, while the Prussians entered 
Bohemia in two separate masses, one on each side of the 
Riesen Gebirge. Benedek wavered and blundered. He sent 
only 60,000 men against 150,000 under Prince Frederick 
Charles, and they suffered four defeats in as many days 
(June 26th-29th). At the same time he had made the same 
mistake in regard to the Crown Prince, who won in over 
half a dozen skirmishes. During the following night, 
June 29th-30th, the second Prussian army reached the Elbe. 
Benedek's incapacity was now completely demonstrated. 
He telegraphed to the emperor to make peace at any cost, 
and retreated on Olmiitz. Then he changed his mind and 
decided to fight, seeking to throw the blame for his own errors 
on his subordinates. The battle-field chosen by him was 
between the village of Sadowa on the Bistritz and Konig- 
gratz on the Elbe, and here his army, though sadly de- 
moralized, fought with much bravery. The Austrians, 
whom their general had notified of the imminent battle 
only in the middle of the night, had fortified the slopes and 
villages as best they could. At eight in the mornmg 
Frederick Charles began the attack by crossing the Bistritz. 
Benedek's centre resisted, but the right and left wings lost 
ground. At half-past eleven the Prussians were losing 
^ 265 



m 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

ground and seemed ready to retreat. At this critical 
moment the army of the Crown Prince appeared, coming 
from the north. 

The second and sixth Austrian corps, obhged to confront 
the new troops with a flank march under the fire of the 
Prussian artillery, could not hold out long, and about three 
o'clock the strongest Austrian position was lost. It was 
necessary at any cost to regain it, but all efforts failed against 
their own entrenchments, defended by the captors with 
desperate energy. At half-past four retreat became neces- 
sary. Half of the Austrian army escaped without much 
difficulty ; but the rest, three army corps, driven toward 
the Elbe by the entire victorious army, would have been 
annihilated but for the devotedness of the cavalry and the 
artillerymen. These formed successive firing lines, and 
continued to shoot until the muzzles of their guns were 
reached, saving the infantry from destruction through dint 
of dying at their posts. Despite this diversion it was a 
frightful rout, which cost the vanquished 40,000 men and 
over 170 pieces of artillery. The Prussians lost only 10,000 
dead and wounded. 

The Treaty of Prague 

The Austrians tried to fall back on Vienna, but only three 
corps out of eight reached there, as the Prussian army by a 
rapid march had forced the others to seek refuge at Presburg. 
On July 18th the Prussian armies were concentrated on the 
Russbach. Archduke Albert, recalled from Italy, had taken 
command of the troops covering Vienna, but the internal 
condition of the empire, where Hungary was in agitation, 
was too disquieting for it to be possible, without aid, to 
continue the war. Napoleon could have put a hundred 
thousand men^on foot immediately, and, later on, Bismarck 
acknowledged! that this would have sufficed to change the 
result ; but he was ill and swayed between opposing in- 
266 



THE EXPANSION OF GERMANY 

fluences. His son, the Prince Imperial, whom he heeded 
very much, was decidedly in favour of Prussia, Accord- 
ingly, no step was taken but an offer of mediation. Then 
he had the weakness, in spite of his Foreign Minister, 
Drouyn de Lhuys, to consent to the annexations which 
Prussia wished to bring about in northern Germany. He 
asked, however, that Austria should lose only Venetia, but 
Bismarck had already, not without difficulty, persuaded 
the king that he must not make territorial demands 
for himself or others that would cause a feehng of 
degradation and bitterness to be left in the hearts of 
the Austrians, and so compromise the alliance that his 
scheming brain was projecting with them, and that he 
afterward realized. 

On July 26th the peace preliminaries of Nikolsburg were 
signed. Austria paid a considerable indemnity, abandoned 
its former position in Germany, acknowledged the extension 
of Prussian authority to the line of the Main and the small 
annexations which Prussia made for the purpose of rectifying 
its frontier. The three Danish duchies were likewise aban- 
doned ; it was stipulated only that the inhabitants of 
northern Schleswig should be consulted as to their wish to 
be restored or not to Denmark, but this was never done. 
Napoleon made a bid for compensation and was promptly 
snubbed by Bismarck, and the definitive treaty was signed 
on August 25th at Prague. As for Italy, Francis Joseph 
had ceded Venetia to Napoleon III, who was to transmit it 
to Victor Emmanuel, but the Italians protested loudly 
against the idea of being satisfied with so little. ^ They 
wanted in addition at least the Trent country. " Have 
you, then," Bismarck said to them, " lost another battle 
to claim a province more ? " On August 10th the pre- 
liminaries of peace were signed by Austria and Italy, and 
the final treaty, that of Vienna, was concluded on October 

3rd, 1866. 

267 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

Germany after 1866 

Prussia, now master of Germany, annexed Hanover, Hesse- 
Cassel, Nassau, and the city of Frankfort, which increased 
its population by four and a half millions. The rest of the 
northern states as far as the Main were to form under its 
direction the Confederation of Northern Germany (pro- 
claimed July 1st, 1867), with a constitution exactly the same 
as that of the German empire of to-day. As for the southern 
states, they remained independent, but Bismarck was not 
slow in making secret treaties with them for both offensive 
and defensive purposes. Napoleon III, as we have seen, 
tried in vain to obtain compensation for that enormous 
increase of power. He wanted the Palatinate, and to the 
first overtures which he made, Bismarck answered with a 
flat refusal and a threat of war. There were some secret 
negotiations between them, however, concerning an enlarge- 
ment of France at the expense of Belgium, but to this day 
it is a matter of doubt from which party the suggestion 
(which, of course, was fruitless of result) emanated. 
Bismarck had succeeded in humbling Austria and reducing 
its importance among the Great Powers of Europe, and had 
expanded Prussia alike on the north and south and made it 
decisively the ruling nation in Central Europe. As we have 
seen, it had concluded military agreements with the states 
of southern Germany. It held them also in another manner, 
namely, by means of a union of the states for the maintenance 
of uniform customs duties and mutual free trade, known as 
the Zollverein, signed anew on June 4th, 1867. 
But Prussia was as yet far from having brought about a 
peaceful realization of unity. The southern states, not 
merely the sovereigns only, but the peoples as well, while in 
mortal terror of their powerful French neighbours, had always 
shown little taste for Prussian leadership, and after 1866 
this feeling was very visible. It was for that reason that 
Bismarck had need of a war against France to strengthen 
268 



THE EXPANSION OF GERMANY 

his position. Union against the foreigner was the cement 
with which he hoped to complete pohtical unity. Such a 
war came near breaking out in 1867 in relation to Luxemburg. 
Napoleon III keenly desired to have at least that country 
as compensation for Prussia's aggrandizements, and the King 
of Holland was disposed to cede his rights over the duchy 
for a consideration. But Bismarck, after having secretly 
approved of the bargain, officially declared his opposition 
to it. Napoleon, hampered at one and the same time by 
the Paris Exhibition of that year and by the bad condition 
of his army, was too happy to escape from embarrassment, 
since it was evident that the Prussians were not willing to 
evacuate the fortress of Luxemburg, by obtaining with the 
aid of the other Powers that the little duchy be declared 
neutral and the walls of its capital destroyed. 
In spite of this arrangement, it remained patent to everybody 
that a conflict would break out in a short time between 
France and Prussia. We have seen what reasons Bismarck 
had for the methods pursued and projected by him. Napo- 
leon Ill's government, justly censured by opinion for the 
weakness which it had shown in 1866, and constantly losing 
its authority, was destined to fall into the first trap its 
adversary would set for it. What this trap was and the 
momentous events to which it led will be described in the 
next chapter. 



269 



CHAPTER XVII 

THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 

Birth of the German Empire and the French Republic 
French Unpreparedness : Discontent in France : 
Causes of Hostile Relations : War with Prussia 
declared : Self-deception of the French : First Meeting 
of the Armies : The Stronghold of Metz : Mars-la- 
Tour and Gravelotte : Napoleon III at Sedan : 
Surrender of Napoleon's Army : The Emperor a 
Captive — France a Republic : Bismarck refuses Inter- 
vention : Fall of the Fortresses : Paris is besieged : 
Gambetta in Command : Defiant Spirit of the French : 
The Struggle continued : Operations before Paris : 
Fighting in the South : The War at an End 
THE war of 1866 led, as we have seen, to the absorption by 
Prussia of the weaker neighbouring states, the formation of 
a North German League among the remaining states of the 
north, and the offensive and defensive aUiance of Prussia 
with the South German states. By the treaty of peace with 
Austria, that Power was exckided from the German League, 
and Prussia remained dominant in Germany. A constitution 
for the League was adopted in 1867, providing for a Diet, or 
legislative council, elected by the direct votes of the people, 
and an army, which was to be under the command of the 
Prussian King and subject to the military laws of Prussia. 
Each state in the League bound itself to supply a specified 
sum for the support of the army. 

Here was a union with a backbone — an army and a budget — 
and Bismarck had done more in the five years of his ministry 
in forming a united Germany than his predecessors had done 
in fifty years. But the idea of union and alliance between 
kindred states was then widely in the air. Such a union had 
been practically completed in Italy, and Hungary in 1867 
regained her ancient rights, which had been taken from her 
in 1849, being given a separate government, with Francis 
270 



THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 

Joseph, the Emperor of Austria, as its king. It was natural 
that the common blood of the Germans should lead them to 
a political confederation, and equally natural that Prussia, 
which so overshadowed the smaller states in strength, should 
be the leading element in the alliance. 

French Unpreparedness 

At the close of the previous chapter we saw how, and why, 
the bitter spirit of antagonism arose between Prussia and 
France. We saw what reasons Bismarck had for war, and 
that Napoleon Ill's government, justly censured by opinion 
for the weakness which it had shown in 1866, was eager to 
retrieve the fault it had then committed. But the weakness 
of the administration continued and prevented it from 
adopting the indispensable military measures that it should 
have taken. The enemies of power were declaiming against 
standing armies, which they declared useless. The govern- 
ment deputies were afraid to dissatisfy their constituents by 
aggravating the burdens of the service. Marshal Niel, 
Minister of War, tried indeed to adopt measures with a view 
to the seemingly inevitable conflict. He caused to be 
elaborated a plan of campaign, a system of transportation 
by railway, an arrangement for the chief places of the east 
to be armed with rifled cannon. But the Chamber grudged 
him the appropriations for the increase of the army, asking 
him if " he wished to make France a vast barracks." " Take 
care," he answered the opposition, " lest you make it a vast 
cemetery." Accordingly, when the mobile National Guard 
had been created, made up of all the young men who had not 
been drawn by lot, organization was given to it only on paper, 
and it was never drilled. Leboeuf, who succeeded Niel in 
August, 1869, abandoned, moreover, most of his predecessor's 
plans. He even neglected to do anything toward carrying 
out on the eastern frontier any of the works of defence already 
recommended as urgent by the generals of the Restoration. 

271 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

And thus time passed on until the eventful year 1870. By 
that year Prussia had completed its work among the North 
German states and was ready for the issue of hostilities, if 
this should be necessary. On the other hand, Napoleon, who 
had found his prestige in France from various causes decreas- 
ing, felt obliged in 1870 to depart from his policy of personal 
rule and give that country a constitutional government. This 
proposal was submitted to a vote of the people and was sus- 
tained by an immense majority. He also took occasion to 
state that "peace was never more assured than at the present 
time." This assurance gave satisfaction to the world, yet it 
was a false one, for war was probably at that moment assured. 

Discontent in France 

There were alarming signs in France. The opposition to 
Napoleonism was steadily gaining power. A bad harvest 
was threatened— a serious source of discontent. The parlia- 
ment was discussing the reversal of the sentence of banish- 
ment against the Orleans family. These indications of a 
change in public sentiment appeared to call for some act 
that would aid in restoring the popularity of the emperor. 
And of all the acts that could be devised a national war 
seemed the most promising. If the Rhine frontier, which 
every Frenchman regarded as the natural boundary of the 
empire, could be regained by the arms of the nation, dis- 
content and opposition would vanish, the name of Napoleon 
would win back its old prestige, and the reign of Bonapartism 
would be firmly established. 

Acts speak louder than words, and the acts of Napoleon 
were not in accord with his assurances of peace. Extensive 
military preparations began, and the forces of the empire 
were strengthened by land and sea, while great trust was 
placed in a new weapon, of murderous powers, called the 
mitrailleuse, the predecessor of the machine gun, and capable 
of discharging twenty-five charges without reloading. 
272 





a 

< 
> ^ 

^ 8 

M ^ 

tn o 

CO o 

w 



THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 

Causes of Hostile Relations 

On the other hand, there were abundant indications of 
discontent in Germany, where a variety of parties inveighed 
against the rapacious pohcy of Prussia, and where Bismarck 
had sown a deep crop of hate. It was beheved in France 
that the minor states would not support Prussia in a war. 
In Austria the defeat of 1866 rankled, and hostilities against 
Prussia on the part of France seemed certain to win sym- 
pathy and support in that composite empire. Colonel 
Stoffel, the French military envoy at Berlin, declared that 
Prussia would be found abundantly prepared for a struggle ; 
but his warnings went unheeded in the French Cabinet, and 
the warlike preparations continued. 

Napoleon did not have to go far for an excuse for the war 
upon which he was resolved. One was prepared for him in 
that potent source of trouble, the succession to the throne of 
Spain. In that country there had for years been no end of 
trouble, revolts, Carlist risings, wars, and rumours of wars. 
The government of Queen Isabella, with its endless intrigues, 
plots, and alternation of despotism and anarchy, and the 
pronounced immorality of the queen, had become so dis- 
tasteful to the people that finally, after several years of 
revolts and armed risings, she was driven from her throne 
by a revolution, and for a time Spain was without a monarch 
and was ruled on republican principles. 

But this arrangement did not prove satisfactory. The 
party in opposition looked around for a king, and after 
various unsuccessful attempts negotiations were opened 
with a distant relative of the Prussian royal family, Leopold 
of Hohenzollern. Prince Leopold, after refusing, accepted 
the offer, and informed the King of Prussia of his decision. 
The news of this event caused great excitement in Paris, 
and the Prussian Government was advised of the painful 
feeling the to which incident had given rise. The answer 
from Berlin that the Prussian Government had no concern 

s 273 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

in the matter, and that Prince Leopold was free to act on 
his own account, did not allay the excitement. The demand 
for war grew violent and clamorous, the feeble voices of the 
opposition in the Chambers were drowned, and the journalists 
and war partisans were confident of a short and glorious 
campaign and a triumphant march to Berlin. The empress 
was one of the most insistent in the demand for war. She 
realized fully that the throne depended upon it, and that it 
would be only through the success of the eagles of France 
that her son would ever wear a crown. 

The hostile feeling was reduced when King William of 
Prussia, though he declined to prohibit Prince Leopold 
from accepting the crown, expressed his concurrence with 
the decision of the prince when he withdrew his acceptance 
of the dangerous offer. For a brief space this decision was 
regarded as sufficient, and Bismarck, who was even more 
anxious for war than the most bellicose of the French fire- 
eaters, trembled lest his prey should escape him. France, 
however, seemingly bent on her own destruction and the 
gratification of the Iron Chancellor, would not let well alone, 
but sent a most peremptory and foolish message to the King 
of Prussia, telling him that she would be satisfied with 
nothing less than a declaration from him that he would never 
at any future time allow the candidature of Prince Leopold 
to be advanced. 

War with Prussia declared 

Satisfaction for this possible source of offence in the future 
was demanded, but King William firmly refused to say any 
more on the subject and declined to stand in the way of 
Prince Leopold if he should again accept the offer of the 
Spanish throne. The refusal was made personally at Ems 
by the king to the French ambassador, Benedetti, on July 
13th. It was accepted by the ambassador, and Bismarck 
was once more put into a state of fear lest the war should, 
274 



THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 

after all, not take place. But fortune again favoured the 
schemer. King William sent him a telegram informing him 
of his interview with Benedetti and its result. The Chan- 
cellor saw his opportunity, and seized it. He took the 
telegram, and, without altering a single word in it, made such 
deletions that it appeared to the French that William had 
deeply insulted France, and to the Germans that France, 
in the person of her ambassador, had deeply insulted Ger- 
many. This he published in the evening's papers in Berlin ; 
it was copied by the Paris papers next morning and the effect 
was instantaneous. The reserves were called out, the 
necessary measures taken to secure the honour and security 
of France, and when the declaration of war was hurled 
against Prussia the whole nation seemed in harmony with 
it, and public opinion appeared for once to have become 
unanimous throughout France. 

Rarely in the history of the world has so trivial a cause given 
rise to such stupendous military and political events as took 
place in France in a brief interval following this blind leap 
into hostilities. Instead of a triumphant march to Berlin 
and the dictation of peace from its palace, France was to 
find itself in two months' time without an emperor or an 
army, and in a few months more completely subdued and 
occupied by foreign troops, while Paris had been made the 
scene of a terrible siege and a frightful communistic riot, 
and a Republic had succeeded the Empire. It was such a 
series of events as have seldom been compressed within the 
short interval of half a year. 

In truth Napoleon and his advisers were blinded by their 
hopes to the true state of affairs. The army on which they 
depended, and which they assumed to be in a high state of 
efficiency and discipline, was lacking in almost every requisite 
of an efficient force. The first Napoleon had been his own 
Minister of War. The third Napoleon, when told by his 
War Minister that " not a single button was wanted on a 

275 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

single gaiter," took the words for the fact, and hurled an 
army without supplies and organization against the most 
thoroughly organized army the world had ever known. 
That the French were as brave as the Germans goes without 
saying ; they fought desperately, but from the first con- 
fusion reigned in their movements, while military science 
of the highest kind dominated those of the Germans. 
Napoleon was equally mistaken as to the state of affairs in 
Germany. The disunion upon which he counted vanished 
at the first threat of war. All Germany felt itself threatened 
and joined hands in defence. The declaration of war was 
received there with as deep an enthusiasm as in France and 
excited a fervent eagerness for the struggle. The new popular 
song, Die Wacht am Rhein (" The Watch on the Rhine "), 
spread rapidly from end to end of the country, and indicated 
the resolution of the German people to defend to the death 
the frontier stream of their country. 

Self-deception of the French 

The French looked for a parade march to Berlin, even fixing 
the day of their entrance into that city — August 15th, the 
emperor's birthday. On the contrary, they failed to set 
their foot on German territory, and soon found themselves 
engaged in a death struggle with the invaders of their own 
land. As for the Prussians, their diplomacy was conducted 
by Bismarck, the ablest statesman Prussia had ever known, 
and the movements of the army were directed by far the best 
tactician Europe then possessed, the famous Von Moltke, to 
whose strategy the rapid success of the war against Austria 
had been due. In the war with France Von Moltke, though 
too old to lead the armies in person, was virtually commander- 
in-chief, and arranged those masterly combinations which 
overthrew all the power of France in so remarkably brief a 
period. Under his directions, from the moment war was 
declared, everything worked with clock-like precision. It 
276 



THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 

was said that Von Moltke had only to touch a bell and all 
went forward. As it was, the Crown Prince Frederick fell 
upon the French while still unprepared, won the first battle, 
and steadily held the advantage to the end, the French being 
beaten by the strategy that kept the Germans in superior 
strength at all decisive points. 

But to return to the events of war. On July 23rd, 1870, the 
Emperor Napoleon, after making his wife Eugenie regent of 
France, set out with his son at the head of the army, full of 
high hopes of victory and triumph. By the end of July 
King William had also set out from Berlin to join the armies 
that were then in rapid motion toward the frontier. 
The emperor made his way to Metz, where was stationed his 
main army, about 150,000 strong, under Marshal Bazaine. 
At Strasburg Marshal MacMahon, the hero of Magenta, was 
in command of about 50,000 men. A third army of 40,000 
reserves occupied the camp at Chalons, while a well-manned 
fleet set sail for the Baltic, to blockade the harbours and assail 
the coast of Germany. The German army was likewise in 
three divisions, the first, of 61,000 men, under General 
Steinmetz ; the second, of nearly 200,000 men, under Prince 
Frederick Charles ; and the third, of 180,000 men, under the 
Crown Prince and General Blumenthal. The king, com- 
mander-in-chief of the whole, was in the centre, and with 
him the general staff under the guidance of the alert Von 
Moltke. Bismarck and the Minister of War, Von Roon, 
were also present, and so rapid was the movement of these 
great forces that in two weeks after the order to march was 
given 300,000 armed Germans stood in rank along the Rhine. 

First Meeting of the Armies 

The two armies first came together on August 2nd, near 
Saarbriicken, on the frontier line of the hostile kingdoms. 
It was the one success of the French, for the Prussians, after 
a fight in which both sides lost equally, retired in good order. 

277 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

This was proclaimed by the French papers as a brilHant 
victory, and filled the people with undue hopes of glory, 
for they were quickly overwhelmed with tidings of defeat 
and disaster. 

Weissenburg, on the borders of Rhenish Bavaria, had been 
invested by a division of MacMahon's army. On August 4th 
the right wing of the army of the Crown Prince Frederick 
attacked and repulsed this investing force after a hot en- 
gagement, in which its leader, General Douay, was killed, 
and the loss on both sides was heavy. Two days later 
occurred a battle which decided the fate of the whole war, 
that of Worth, where the army of the Crown Prince met that 
of MacMahon, and after a desperate struggle, which con- 
tinued for fifteen hours, completely defeated him, with very 
heavy losses on both sides. MacMahon retreated in haste 
toward the army at Chalons, while the Crown Prince took 
possession of Alsace, and prepared for the reduction of the 
fortresses on the Rhine, from Strasburg to Belfort. On the 
same day as that of the battle of Worth, General Steinmetz 
stormed the heights of Spicheren, and, though at great loss 
of life, drove Frossard from those heights and back upon 
Metz. 

The occupation of Alsace was followed by that of Lorraine, 
by the Prussian army under King William, who took posses- 
sion of Nancy and the country surrounding on August 11th. 
These two provinces had at one time belonged to Germany 
and it was the aim of the Prussians to retain them as the 
chief prize of the war. Meanwhile the world looked on 
in amazement at the extraordinary rapidity of the German 
success, which, in two weeks after Napoleon left Paris, had 
brought his power to the verge of overthrow. 

The Stronghold of Metz 

Toward the Moselle and the strongly fortified town of Metz, 

180 miles north-east of Paris, around which was concen- 

278 



THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 

trated the main French force, all the divisions of the German 
army now advanced, and on the 14th of August they gained 
a victory at Colombey which drove their opponents back 
from the open field toward the fortified city. 
It was Moltke's opinion that the French proposed to make 
their stand before this impregnable fortress, and fight there 
desperately for victory. But, finding less resistance than he 
expected, he concluded, on the 15th, that Bazaine, in fear 
of being cooped up within the fortress, meant to march 
toward Verdun, there to join his forces with those of 
MacMahon and give battle to the Germans in the plain. 
The astute tactician at once determined to make every effort 
to prevent such a concentration of his opponents, and by 
the evening of the 15th a cavalry division had crossed the 
Moselle and reached the village of Mars-la-Tour, where it 
bivouacked for the night. It had seen troops in motion 
towards Metz, but did not know whether these formed the 
rear-guard of the French army or its vanguard in its march 
toward Verdun. 

In fact, Bazaine had not yet got away with his army. All 
the roads from Metz were blocked with heavy baggage, and 
it was impossible to move so large an army with expedition. 
The time thus lost by Bazaine was diligently improved by 
Frederick Charles, and on the morning of the 16th the 
Brandenburg army corps, one of the best and bravest in the 
German army, had followed the cavalry and come within 
sight of the Verdun road. It was quickly perceived that a 
French force was before them, and some preliminary skir- 
mishing revealed the enemy in such strength that the leader 
of the corps was convinced that he had in his front the whole 
or the greater part of Bazaine's army, and that its escape 
from Metz had not been achieved. 

They were desperate odds with which the brave Branden- 
burgers had to contend, but they had been sent to hold the 
French until reinforcements could arrive, and they were 

279 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

determined to resist to the death. For nearly six hours 
they resisted, with unsurpassed courage, the fierce onslaughts 
of the French, though at a cost of life that perilously depleted 
the gallant corps. Then, about four o'clock in the afternoon, 
Prince Frederick Charles came up with reinforcements to 
their support and the desperate contest became more even. 

Mars-la-Tour and Gravelotte 

Gradually fortune decided in favour of the Germans, and by 
the time night had come they were practically victorious, 
the field of Mars-la-Tour, after the day's struggle, remaining 
in their hands. But they were utterly exhausted, their 
horses were worn out, and most of their ammunition was 
spent, and though their impetuous commander forced them 
to a new attack, it led to a useless loss of life, for their powers 
of fighting were gone. They had achieved their purpose, 
that of preventing the escape of Bazaine, though at a fearful 
loss, amounting to about 16,000 men on each side. " The 
battle of Vionville [Mars-la-Tour] is without a parallel in 
military history," said Emperor William, " seeing that a 
single army corps, about 20,000 men strong, hung on to and 
repulsed an enemy more than five times as numerous and 
well equipped. Such was the glorious deed done by the 
Brandenburgers, and the Hohenzollerns will never forget 
the debt they owe to their devotion." 

Two days afterward (August 18th), at Gravelotte, a village 
a little nearer to Metz, the armies, somewhat recovered from 
their terrible struggles, met again, the whole German aTmy 
being now brought up, so that over 200,000 men faced the 
140,000 of the French. It was the great battle of the war. 
For four hours the two armies stood fighting face to face, 
without any special result, neither being able to drive back 
the other. The French held their ground and died. The 
Prussians dashed upon them and died. Only late in the 
evening was the right wing of the French army broken, and 
280 



THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 

the victory, which at five o'clock remained uncertain, was 
decided in favour of the Germans. More than 30,000 men 
lay dead and wounded upon the field, the terrible harvest 
of those nine hours of conflict. That night Bazaine with- 
drew his army behind the fortifications at Metz. His effort 
to join MacMahon had ended in failure. 

It was the fixed purpose of the Prussians to detain him in 
that stronghold, and thus render its largest army practically 
useless to France. A siege was to be prosecuted, and an 
army of 150,000 men was extended around the town. The 
fortifications were far too strong to be taken by assault, 
and all depended on a close blockade. On August 31st 
Bazaine made an effort to break through the German lines, 
but was repulsed. It became now a question of how long 
the provisions of the French would hold out. 

Napoleon III at Sedan 

The French Emperor, who had been with Bazaine, was now 
with MacMahon at Chalons, where lay an army of 125,000 
infantry and 12,000 cavalry. On it the Germans were 
advancing, in doubt as to what movement it would make, 
whether back toward Paris or toward Metz for the relief 
of Bazaine. They sought to place themselves in a position 
to check either attempt. The latter movement was deter- 
mined on by the French, but was carried out in a dubious 
and uncertain manner, the time lost giving abundant oppor- 
tunity to the Germans to learn what was afoot and to 
prepare to prevent it. As soon as they were aware of 
MacMahon' s intention of proceeding to Metz they made 
speedy preparations to prevent his relieving Bazaine. By 
the last days of August the army of the Crown Prince had 
reached the right bank of the Aisne, and the fourth division 
gained possession of the line of the Meuse. On August 30th 
the French under General de Failly were attacked by the 
Germans at Beaumont and put to flight with heavy loss. 

281 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

It was evident that the hope of reaching Metz was at an 
end, and MacMahon, abandoning the attempt, concentrated 
his army around the frontier fortress of Sedan. 
This old town stands on the right bank of the Meuse, in an 
angle of territory between Luxemburg and Belgium, and is 
surrounded by meadows, gardens, ravines, and cultivated 
fields, the castle rising on a cliff-like eminence to the south- 
west of the place. MacMahon had stopped here to give 
his weary men a rest, not to fight, but Von Moltke 
decided, on observing the situation, that Sedan should 
be the graveyard of the French army. " The trap is 
now closed, and the mouse in it," he said, with a chuckle 
of satisfaction. 

Such proved to be the case. On September 1st the Bava- 
rians won the village of Bazeille, after hours of bloody 
and desperate struggle. During this severe fight Marshal 
MacMahon was so seriously wounded that he was obliged 
to surrender the chief command, first to Ducrot, and then to 
General Wimpffen, a man of recognized bravery and cold 
calculation. 

Fortune soon showed itself in favour of the Germans. To the 
north-west of the town, the North German troops invested 
the exits from St Menges and Fleigneux, and directed a 
fearful fire of artillery against the French forces, which, 
before noon, were so hemmed in the valley that only two 
insufficient outlets to the south and north remained open. 
But General Wimpffen hesitated to seize either of these 
routes ; the open way to Illy was soon closed by the Prussian 
Guard corps, and a murderous fire was now directed from all 
sides upon the French, so that, after a last energetic struggle, 
they gave up all attempts to force a passage, and in the 
afternoon beat a retreat toward Sedan. In this small town 
the whole army of MacMahon was collected by evening, 
and there prevailed in the streets and houses an unprece- 
dented disorder and confusion, which was still further 
282 



THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 

increased when the German troops from the surrounding 
heights began to shoot down upon the fortress, and the town 
took fire in several places. 

Surrender of Napoleon's Army 

That an end might be put to the prevailing misery, Napoleon 
now commanded General Wimpffen to capitulate. The flag 
of truce already waved on the gates of Sedan when Colonel 
Bronsart appeared, and in the name of the King of Prussia 
demanded the surrender of the army and fortress. He soon 
returned to headquarters, accompanied by the French 
General Reille, who presented to the king a written message 
from Napoleon : " As I may not die in the midst of my 
army, I lay my sword in the hands of your majesty." Kmg 
WilHam accepted it with an expression of sympathy for the 
hard fate of the emperor and of the French army which 
had fought so bravely under his own eyes. The conclusion 
of the treaty of capitulation was placed in the hands of 
Wimpffen, who, accompanied by General Castelnau, set out 
for Donchery to negotiate with Moltke and Bismarck. No 
attempts, however, availed to move Moltke from his stipula- 
tion for the surrender of the whole army at discretion ; he 
granted a short respite, but if this expired without surrender, 
the bombardment of the town was to begin anew. 
At six o'clock in the morning the capitulation was signed 
and was ratified by the king at his headquarters at Vendresse 
(2nd September). Thus the world beheld the incredible 
spectacle of an army of 81,000 men surrendering themselves 
and their weapons to the victor, and being carried off as 
prisoners of war to Germany. Only the officers who gave 
their written word of honour to take no further part m the 
present war with Germany were permitted to retain their 
arms and personal property. Probably the assurance of 
Napoleon, that he had sought death on the battle-field but 
had not found it, was hterally true ; at any rate, the fate ot 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

the unhappy man, bowed down as he was both by physical 
and mental suffering, was so solemn and tragic that there 
was no room for hypocrisy, and that he had exposed himself 
to personal danger was admitted on all sides. Accompanied 
by Count Bismarck, he stopped at a small and mean-looking 
labourer's inn on the road to Donchery, where, sitting down 
on a seat before the door with the German Chancellor, he 
declared that he had not desired the war, but had been 
driven to it through the force of public opinion ; and after- 
ward the two proceeded to the little castle of Bellevue, 
near Frenois, to join King William and the Crown Prince. 
A telegram to Queen Augusta thus describes the interview : 
" What an impressive moment was the meeting with 
Napoleon ! He was cast down, but dignified in his bearing. 
I have granted him Wilhelmshohe, near Cassel, as his 
residence. Our meeting took place in a little castle before 
the western glacis of Sedan." 

The Emperor a Captive — ^France a Republic 
The locking up of Bazaine in Metz and the capture of 
MacMahon's army at Sedan were events fatal to France. 
The struggle continued for months, but it was a fight against 
hope. The subsequent events of the war consisted of the 
investment of Metz, Paris, and Strasburg, with various 
minor sieges, and a desperate but hopeless effort of France 
in the field. As for the empire of Napoleon III, it was at 
an end. The tidings of the terrible catastrophe at Sedan 
filled the people with a fury that soon became revolutionary. 
While Jules Favre, the republican deputy, was offering a 
motion in the Assembly that the emperor had forfeited the 
crown, and that a provisional government should be estab- 
lished, the people were thronging the streets of Paris with 
cries of " Deposition ! Republic ! " On the 4th of September 
the Assembly had its final meeting. Two of its prominent 
members, Jules Favre and Gambetta, sustained the motion 
284 



THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 

for deposition of the emperor, and it was carried after a 
stormy session. They then made their way to the senate- 
chamber, where, before a thronging audience, they pro- 
claimed a repubUc and named a government for the national 
defence. At its head was General Trochu, military com- 
mandant at Paris. Favre was made Minister of Foreign 
Affairs ; Gambetta, Minister of the Interior ; and other 
prominent members of the Assembly filled the remaining 
Cabinet posts. The legislature was dissolved, the Palais de 
Bourbon was closed, and the Empress Eugenie quitted the 
Tuileries and made her escape with a few attendants to 
Belgium, whence she sought a refuge in England. Prince 
Louis Napoleon made his way to Italy, and the swarm of 
courtiers scattered in all directions ; some faithful followers 
of the deposed monarch seeking the castle of Wilhelmshdhe, 
where the unhappy Louis Napoleon occupied as a prison the 
same beautiful palace and park in which his uncle, Jerome 
Bonaparte, had once passed six years in a life of pleasure. 
The second French Empire was at an end ; the third French 
Republic had begun— one that had to pass through many 
changes and escape many dangers before it would be firmly 
established. 

" Not a foot's breadth of our country nor a stone of our 
fortresses shall be surrendered," was Jules Favre' s defiant 
proclamation to the invaders, and as many soldiers as 
possible were collected in Paris, and strengthened with all 
available reinforcements. Every person capable of bearing 
arms was enrolled in the national army, which soon numbered 
400,000 men. There was need of haste, for the victors at 
Sedan were already marching upon the capital, inspired with 
high hopes from their previous astonishing success. They 
knew that Paris was strongly fortified, but they trusted that 
hunger would soon bring its garrison to terms. The same 
result was looked for at Metz and at Strasburg, which, as 

we have said, were also besieged. 

285 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

Thus began at three main points and several minor ones a 
miUtary siege the difficulties, dangers, and hardships of 
which surpassed even those of the winter campaign in the 
Crimea. Exposed at the advance-guards to the enemy's 
fire, chained to arduous labour in the trenches and redoubts, 
and suffering from the effects of bad weather and insufficient 
food and clothing, the German soldiers were compelled to 
undergo great privations and sufferings before the fortifica- 
tions ; while many fell in the frequent skirmishes and sallies, 
many more succumbed to typhus and epidemic disease. 
No less painful and distressing was the condition of the 
besieged. While the garrison soldiers on guard were con- 
stantly compelled to face death in night attacks, or led a 
pitiable existence in damp huts, having inevitable surrender 
constantly before their eyes, and disarmament and imprison- 
ment as the reward of all their struggles and exertions, the 
citizens of Paris, the women and children, were in con- 
stant danger of being struck by fragments of the fearful 
shells, or of being buried under falling walls and roofs ; and 
the poorer part of the population saw with dismay the gradual 
diminution of the necessaries of life, and were often com- 
pelled to pacify their hunger with the flesh of horses, and 
disgusting and unwholesome food. 

Bismarck refuses Intervention 

The republican government possessed only a usurped power, 
and Bismarck would allow none but a freely elected National 
Assembly to decide as to whether the war should be continued 
or not. Such an Assembly was therefore summoned for the 
16th of October. Three members of the government— 
Cremieux, Fourichon, and Glais-Bizoin— were dispatched, 
before the entire blockade of the city had been effected, to 
Tours, to maintain communication with the provinces. An 
attempt was also made at the same time to induce the Great 
Powers which had not taken part in the war to organize an 
286 



THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 

intervention, as hitherto only America, Switzerland, and 
Spain had sent official recognition. For this important and 
delicate mission the old statesman and historian Thiers was 
selected, and, in spite of his three-and-seventy years, imme- 
diately set out on the journey to London, St Petersburg, 
Vienna, and Florence. Count Bismarck, however, in the name 
of Prussia, refused to permit any intervention in internal 
affairs. In two dispatches to the ambassadors of foreign 
courts, the Chancellor declared that the war, begun by the 
Emperor Napoleon, had been approved by the representatives 
of the nation, and that thus all France was answerable for the 
result. Germany was obliged, therefore, to demand guaran- 
tees which should secure her in future against attack, or, at 
any rate, render attack more difficult. Thus a cession of 
territory on the part of France was laid down as the basis 
of a treaty of peace. The neutral Powers were also led to 
the belief that if they fostered in the French any hope of 
intervention, peace would only be delayed. The mission of 
Thiers, therefore, yielded no useful result, while the direct 
negotiation which Jules Favre conducted with Bismarck 
proved equally unavailing. 

Fall of the Fortresses 

Soon the beleaguered fortresses began to fall. On the 23rd 
of September the ancient town of Toul, in Lorraine, was 
forced to capitulate, after a fearful bombardment ; and on 
the 27th Strasburg, in danger of the terrible results of a 
storming, after the havoc of a dreadful artillery fire, hoisted 
the white flag, and was entered by the Germans on the 
following day. The supposed impregnable fortress of Metz 
held out a day or two longer. Hunger did what cannon 
were incapable of doing. The successive sallies made by 
Bazaine proved unavailing, though, on October 7th, his 
soldiers fought with desperate energy, and for hours the air 
was full of the roar of cannon and mitrailleuses and the rattle 

287 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

of musketry. But the Germans withstood the attack 
unmoved, and the French were forced to ^^Hthdraw into the 
town. 

Bazaine then sought to negotiate with the German leaders 
at Versailles, offering to take no part in the war for three 
months if permitted to withdraw. But Bismarck and Moltke 
would listen to no terms other than unconditional surrender, 
and these terms were finally accepted, the besieged army 
having reached the brink of starvation. It was with horror 
and despair that France learned, on the 30th of October, 
that the citadel of Metz, with its fortifications and arms of 
defence, had been yielded to the Germans, and its armiy of 
more than 175,000 men had surrendered as prisoners of war. 
This hasty surrender at Metz, a still greater disaster to France 
than that of Sedan, was not emulated at Paris, which for 
four months held out against all the efforts of the Germans. 
On the investment of the great city, King William removed 
his headquarters to the historic palace of Versailles, setting 
up his homely camp-bed in the same apartments from which 
Louis XIV had once issued his despotic edicts and commands. 
Here Count Bismarck conducted his diplomatic labours 
and Moltke issued his directions for the siege, which was 
protracted from week to week and month to month. 

Paris is besieged 

In spite of the vigorous efforts made by the Commander-in- 
Chief Trochu, both by continuous firing from the forts and by 
repeated sallies, to prevent Paris from being surrounded, 
and to force a way through the trenches, his enterprises 
were rendered fruitless by the watchfulness and strength of 
the Germans. The blockade was completely accomplished ; 
Paris was surrounded and cut off from the outer world ; 
even the underground telegraphs, through which communi- 
cation was for a time secretly maintained with the pro- 
vinces, were by degrees discovered and destroyed. But to 
288 




o 

^ I 

< a, 

o 



THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 

the great astonishment of Europe, which looked on with 
highly pitched excitement at the mighty struggle, the siege 
continued for months without any special progress being 
observable from without or any lessening of resistance from 
within. On account of the extension of the forts, the 
Germans were compelled to remain at such a distance that 
a bombardment of the town at first appeared impossible ; 
a storming of the outer works would, moreover, be attended 
with such sacrifices that the king revolted from such a 
proceeding. The guns of greater force and carrying power 
which were needed could only be procured from Germany 
after long delay on account of the broken lines of railway. 
Determination and courage falsified the calculations at 
Versailles of a quick cessation of the resistance. The re- 
public offered a far more energetic and determined opposition 
to the Prussian arms than the empire had done. The 
government still declaimed with stern reiteration : " Not a 
foot's breadth of our country ; not a stone of our fortresses ! " 
and positively rejected all proposals of treaty based on 
territorial concessions. Faith in the invincibility of the 
republic was rooted as an indisputable dogma in the hearts 
of the French people. They were so imbued with the success 
that had attended the revolutionary period from 1792 that 
it was decided to adopt the same course which had then 
saved France from the coalition of the European Powers. 
It was held that a revolutionary dictatorship such as had 
once been exercised by the Convention and the members of 
the Committee of Public Safety, must again be revived, and 
a youthful and hot-blooded leader was alone needed to stir 
up popular feeling and set it in motion. 

Gambetta in Command 

To fill such a part no one was better adapted than the 
advocate Gambetta, who emulated the career of the leaders 
of the Revolution, and whose soul glowed with a passionate 

T 289 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

ardour of patriotism. In order to create for himself a free 
sphere of action, and to initiate some vigorous measure in 
place of the well-rounded phrases and eloquent proclamations 
of his colleagues Trochu and Jules Favre, he quitted the 
capital in a balloon and entered into communication with 
the Government delegation at Tours, which through him 
soon obtained a fresh impetus. His first task was the 
liberation of the capital from the besieging German army, 
and the expulsion of the enemy from the ' sacred ' soil of 
France. For this purpose he summoned, with the authority 
of a minister of war, all persons capable of bearing arms up to 
forty years of age, and dispatched them into the field ; he 
imposed war-taxes, and terrified the tardy and refractory 
with threats of punishment. Every force was put in motion ; 
all France was transformed into a great camp. 
A popular war was now to take the place of a soldiers' war, 
and what the soldiers had failed to effect must be accom- 
plished by the people ; France must be saved, and the world 
freed from despotism. To promote this object, the whole 
of France, with the exception of Paris, was divided into four 
general governments, the headquarters of the different 
governors being Lille, Le Mans, Bourges, and Besan9on. 
Two armies, from the Loire and from the Somme, were to 
march simultaneously toward Paris, and, aided by the 
sallies of Trochu and his troops, were to drive the enemy 
from the country. Energetic attacks were now attempted 
from time to time, in the hope that when the armies of relief 
arrived from the provinces, it might be possible to effect a 
coalition ; but all these efforts were constantly repulsed 
after a hot struggle by the besieging German troops. At 
the same time, during the month of October, the territory 
between the Oise and the Lower Seine was scoured by 
reconnoitring troops, under Prince Albrecht, the south- 
east district was protected by a Wiirtemberg detachment 
through the successful battle near Nogent-sur-Seine, while a 
290 



THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 

division of the third army advanced toward the south 
accompanied by two cavalry divisions. Meanwhile the 
Parisians, whose telegraph lines had been destroyed, as we 
have seen, by the enemy, were able to maintain a partial 
though one-sided and imperfect communication with the 
provinces by means of balloons and carrier-pigeons. 

Defiant Spirit of the French 

The whole of France, and especially the capital, was already 
in a state of intense excitement when the news of the capi- 
tulation of Metz came to add fresh fuel to the flame. Out- 
side the walls Gambetta was using heroic efforts to increase 
his forces, bringing horsemen from Africa and inducing the 
stern old revolutionist Garibaldi to come to his aid ; and 
Thiers was opening fresh negotiations for a truce. Inside 
the walls the Red Republic raised the banners of insurrection 
and attempted to drive the Government of National Defence 
from power. 

This effort to inaugurate a reign of terror failed, and the 
provisional government felt so elated with its victory that 
it determined to continue at the head of affairs and to oppose 
the calling of a chamber of national representatives. The 
members proclaimed oblivion for what had passed, broke off 
the negotiations for a truce begun by Thiers, and demanded 
a vote of confidence. The indomitable spirit shown by the 
French people did not, on the other hand, inspire the Germans 
with a very lenient or conciliatory temper. Bismarck de- 
clared in a dispatch the reasons why the negotiations had 
failed : " The incredible demand that we should surrender 
the fruits of all our efforts during the last two months, and 
should go back to the conditions which existed at the 
beginning of the blockade of Paris, only affords fresh proof 
that in Paris pretexts are sought for refusing the nation the 
right of election." Thiers mournfully declared the failure 
of his undertaking, but in Paris the popular voting resulted 

291 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

in a ten-fold majority in favour of the government and the 
pohcy of postponement. 

After the breaking off of the negotiations, the world antici- 
pated some energetic action toward the besieged city. The 
efforts of the enemy were, however, principally directed to 
drawing the iron girdle still tighter, enclosing the giant city 
more and more closely, and cutting off every means of 
communication, so that at last a surrender might be brought 
about by the stern necessity of starvation. That this object 
would not be accomplished as speedily as at Metz, that the 
city of pleasure, enjoyment, and luxury would withstand a 
siege of four months, had never been contemplated for a 
moment. It is true that, as time went on, all fresh meat 
disappeared from the market, with the exception of horse- 
flesh ; that white bread, on which Parisians place such value, 
was replaced by a baked compound of meal and bran ; that 
the stores of dried and salted food began to decline, until 
at last rats, dogs, cats, and even animals from the zoological 
gardens were prepared for consumption at restaurants. 
Yet, to the amazement of the world, all these miseries, hard- 
ships, and sufferings were courageously borne ; nocturnal 
watch was kept, sallies were undertaken, and cold, hunger, 
and wretchedness of all kinds were endured with an indomit- 
able steadfastness and heroism. The courage of the besieged 
Parisians was also animated by the hope that the military 
forces in the provinces would hasten to the aid of the hard- 
pressed capital, and that therefore an energetic resistance 
would afford the rest of France sufficient time for rallying all 
its forces, and at the same time exhibit an elevating example. 
In the carrying out of this plan, neither Trochu nor Gambetta 
was wanting in the requisite energy and circumspection. 
The former organized sallies from time to time, in order to 
reconnoitre and discover whether the army of relief was on 
its way from the provinces ; the latter exerted all his powers 
to bring the Loire army up to the Seine. But both erred in 
292 



THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 

undervaluing the German war forces ; they did not beHeve 
that the hostile army would be able to keep Paris in a state 
of blockade, and at the same time engage the armies on the 
south and north, east and west. They had no conception 
of the hidden, inexhaustible strength of the Prussian army 
organization — of a nation in arms which could send forth 
constant reinforcements of battalions and recruits, and fresh 
bodies of disciplined troops to fill the gaps left in the ranks 
by the wounded and fallen. There should have been no doubt 
as to the termination of this terrible war, or the final victory 
of German energy and discipline. 

The Struggle continued 

Throughout the last months of the eventful year 1870, the 
northern part of France, from the Jura to the Channel, from 
the Belgian frontier to the Loire, presented the aspect of a wide 
battle-field. Of the German troops that had been set free by 
the capitulation of Metz, a part remained behind in garrison, 
another division marched northward in order to invest the 
provinces of Picardy and Normandy, to restore communica- 
tion with the sea, and to bar the road to Paris, whilst a third 
division joined the second army, whose commander-in-chief. 
Prince Frederick Charles, set up his headquarters at Troyes. 
Different detachments were dispatched against the northern 
fortresses, and by degrees Soissons, Verdun, Thionville, Ham 
(where Napoleon had once been a prisoner), Pfalzburg, and 
Montmedy, all fell into the hands of the Prussians, thus 
opening to them a free road for the supplies of provisions. 
The garrison troops were all carried off as prisoners to Ger- 
many ; the towns — most of them in a miserable condition — 
fell into the enemy's hands ; many houses were mere heaps 
of ruins and ashes, and the larger part of the inhabitants 
were suffering severely from poverty, hunger, and disease. 
The greatest obstacles were encountered in the northern 
part of Alsace and the mountainous districts of the Vosges 

293 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

and the Jura, where irregular warfare, under Garibaldi and 
other leaders, developed to a dangerous extent, while the 
fortress of Langres afforded a safe retreat to the guerilla 
bands. Lyons and the neighbouring town of St Etienne 
became hotbeds of excitement, the red flag being raised and 
a despotism of terror and violence established. Although 
many divergent elements made up this army of the east, all 
were united in hatred of the Germans. 

Thus, during the cold days of November and December, 
when General von Tresckow began the siege of the important 
fortress of Belfort, there burst forth a war around Gray and 
Dijon marked by the greatest hardships, perils, and privations 
to the invaders. Here the Germans had to contend with an 
enemy much superior in number, and to defend themselves 
against continuous firing from houses, cellars, woods, and 
thickets, while the impoverished country yielded a miserable 
subsistence, and the broken railways cut off freedom of 
communication and of reinforcement. 

The whole of the Jura district, intersected by hilly roads as 
far as the plateau of Langres, where, in the days of Caesar, 
the Romans and Gauls were wont to measure their strength 
with each other, formed during November and December 
the scene of action of numerous encounters Avhich, in con- 
junction with sallies from the garrison at Belfort, inflicted 
severe injury on Werder's troops. Dijon had repeatedly 
to be evacuated ; and the nocturnal attack at Chatillon, 
20th November, by Garibaldians, when one hundred and 
twenty Landwehr men and Hussars perished miserably, 
and seventy horses were lost, afforded a striking proof of the 
dangers to which the German army was exposed in this 
hostile country. The excesses of the turbulent population 
of the south, however, diverted to a certain extent the 
attention of the National Guard, who were compelled to 
turn their weapons against an internal enemy. 
By means of the revolutionary dictatorship of Gambetta 
394 



THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 

the whole French nation was drawn into the struggle, the 
annihilation of the enemy being represented as a national 
duty, and the war steadily assumed a more violent character. 
The indefatigable patriot continued his exertions to increase 
the army and unite the whole south and west against the 
enemy, hoping to bring the army of the Loire to such 
dimensions that it would be able to expel the invaders from 
the soil of France. But these raw recruits were poorly fitted 
to cope with the highly disciplined Germans, and their early 
successes were soon followed by defeat and discouragement, 
while the hopes entertained by the Paris garrison of succour 
from the south evaporated as news of the steady progress 
of the Germans was received. 

Operations before Paris 

During these events the war operations before Paris con- 
tinued uninterruptedly. Moltke had succeeded, in spite of 
the difficulties of transport, in procuring an immense quantity 
of ammunition, and the long-delayed bombardment of Paris 
was ready to begin. Having stationed with all secrecy 
twelve batteries with seventy-six guns around Mont Avron, 
on Christmas Day the firing was directed with such success 
against the fortified eminences, that even in the second night 
the French, after great losses, evacuated the important 
position, the ' key of Paris,' which was immediately taken 
possession of by the Saxons. Terror and dismay spread 
throughout the distracted city when the eastern forts, 
Rosny, Nogent, and Noisy, were stormed after a tremendous 
artillery fire. Vainly did Trochu endeavour to rouse the 
failing courage of the National Guard, vainly did he assert 
that the Government of the National Defence would never 
consent to the humiliation of a capitulation ; his own 
authority had already waned, the newspapers already 
accused him of incapacity and treachery, and began to cast 
every aspersion on the men who had presumptuously seized 

295 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

the government, and yet were not in a position to effect the 
defence of the capital and the country. After the new year 
the bombardment of the southern forts began, and the 
terror in the city daily increased, though the vehemence of 
the radical journals kept in check any hint of surrender or 
negotiation. Meantime in spite of fog and snow-storms the 
bombardment was systematically continued, and with every 
day the destructive effect of the terrible missiles grew more 
pronounced. 

Trochu was blamed for having undertaken only small sallies, 
which could have no result. The commander-in-chief ven- 
tured no opposition to the party of action. With the con- 
sent of the mayors of the twenty arrondissements of Paris 
a council of war was held. The threatening famine, the firing 
of the enemy, and the excitement prevailing among the 
adherents of the Red Republic rendered a decisive step 
necessary. Consequently, on the 19th of January, a great 
sally was decided on, and the entire forces of the capital 
were summoned to arms. Early in the morning, a body of 
100,000 men marched in the direction of Meudon, Sevres, 
and St Cloud for the decisive conflict. The left wing was 
commanded by General Vinoy, the right by Ducrot, while 
Trochu from the watch-tower directed the entire struggle. 
With great courage Vinoy dashed forward with his column 
of attack toward the fifth army corps of General Kirchbach, 
and succeeded, through the superior number of his troops, 
in capturing the Montretout entrenchment and in holding it 
for a time. But when Ducrot, delayed by the barricades 
in the streets, failed to come to his assistance at the appointed 
time, the attack was driven back after seven hours' fierce 
fighting by the besieging troops. Having lost 7000 dead 
and wounded, the French in the evening beat a retreat, 
which almost resembled a flight. On the following 
day Trochu demanded a truce, that the fallen National 
Guards, whose bodies strewed the battle-field, might 
296 



j THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 

be interred. The victors, too, had to render the last 
rites to many a brave soldier. Thirty-nine officers and 
six hundred and sixteen soldiers were given in the list of 
the slain. 

Entire confidence had been placed by the Parisians in the 
great sally. When the defeat, therefore, became known in 
its full significance, when the number of the fallen was found 
to be far greater even than had been stated in the first 
accounts, a dull despair took possession of the famished city, 
which next broke forth into violent abuse against Trochu, 
'the traitor.' Capitulation now seemed imminent; but 
as the commander-in-chief had declared that he would never 
countenance such a disgrace, he resigned his post to Vinoy. 
Threatened by bombardment from without, terrified within 
by the pale spectre of famine, paralysed and distracted by 
the violent dissensions among the people, and without 
prospect of effective aid from the provinces, what remained 
to the proud capital but to desist from a conflict the con- 
tinuation of which only increased the unspeakable misery, 
without the smallest hope of deliverance ? Gradually, 
therefore, there grew up a resolution to enter into negotiations 
with the enemy ; and it was the minister Jules Favre, who 
had been foremost with the cry of "no surrender " four 
months before, who was now compelled to take the first 
step to deliver his country from complete ruin. It was 
probably the bitterest hour in the life of the brave man, who 
loved France and liberty with such a sincere affection, when 
he was conducted through the German outposts to his 
interview with Bismarck at Versailles. He brought the 
proposal for a convention, on the strength of which the 
garrison was to be permitted to retire with military honours 
to a part of France not hitherto invested, on promising to 
abstain for several months from taking part in the struggle. 
But such conditions were positively refused at the Prussian 
headquarters, and a surrender was demanded as at Sedan 

297 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

and Metz. Completely defeated, the minister returned to 
Paris. At a second meeting on the following day, it was \ 
agreed that from the 27th, at twelve o'clock at night, the j 
firing on both sides should be discontinued. This was the \ 
preliminary to the conclusion of a three weeks' truce, to 
await the summons of a National Assembly, with which 
peace might be negotiated. 

Fighting in the South 

The war was at an end so far as Paris was concerned. But 
it continued in the south, where frequent defeat failed to 
depress Gambetta's indomitable energy, and where new 
troops constantly replaced those put to rout. Garibaldi, at 
Dijon, succeeded in doing what the French had not done 
during the war, in capturing a Prussian banner. But the 
progress of the Germans soon rendered his position untenable, 
and, finding his exertions unavaihng, he resigned his com- 
mand and retired to his island of Caprera. Two disasters 
completed the overthrow of France. Bourbaki's army, 
some 85,000 strong, became shut in, with scanty food and 
ammunition, among the snow-covered valleys of the Jura, 
and to save the disgrace of capitulation it took refuge on 
the neutral soil of Switzerland ; and the strong fortress of 
Belfort, which had been defended with the utmost courage 
against its besiegers, finally yielded, with the stipulation 
that the brave garrison should march out with the honours 
of war. Nothing now stood in the way of an extension of 
the truce. On the suggestion of Jules Favre, the National 
Assembly elected a commission of fifteen members, which 
was to aid Thiers, the chief of the executive, and his ministers, 
Picard and Favre, in the negotiations for peace. That 
cessions of territory and indemnity of war expenses would 
have to be conceded had long been acknowledged in prin- 
ciple ; but protracted and excited discussions took place as 
to the extent of the former and the amount of the latter, 
298 



THE FRANCO-PRUSSIAN WAR 

I while the demanded entry of the German troops into Paris 
met with vehement opposition. But Count Bismarck reso- 
lutely insisted on the cession of Alsace and German Lorraine, 
including Metz and Thionville (Diedenhofen). Only with 
difficulty were the Germans persuaded to separate Belfort 
from the rest of Lorraine, and leave it still in the possession 
of the French. In respect to the expenses of the war, the 
sum of five milliards of francs (£200,000,000) was agreed 
upon, of which the first milliard was to be paid in the year 
1871, and the rest in a stated period. The stipulated entry 
into Paris also — so bitter to the French national pride — was 
only partially carried out ; the western side only of the city 
was to be traversed in the march of the Prussian troops, 
and evacuated in two days. On the basis of these conditions 
the preliminaries of the Peace of Frankfort were concluded 
on the 26th of February between the Imperial Chancellor 
and Jules Favre. Intense excitement prevailed when the 
terms of the treaty became known ; they were dark days in 
the annals of French history. But in spite of the opposition 
of the extreme Republican party, led by Quinet and Victor 
Hugo, the Assembly recognized by an overpowering majority 
the necessity for the Peace, and the preliminaries were 
accepted by 546 to 107 votes. Thus ended the mighty war 
between France and Germany — a war which, till the present 
day, had had few equals in the history of the world. 

The War at an End 

Had King William received no indemnity in cash or territory 
from France, he must still have felt himself amply repaid 
for the cost of this sanguinary war, for it brought him a 
power and prestige with which the astute diplomatist Bis- 
marck had long been seeking to invest his name. Political 
changes move slowly in times of peace, rapidly in times of 
war. The whole of Germany, with the exception of Austria, 
had sent troops to the conquest of France, and every state, 

299 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

north and south aUke, shared in the pride and glory of the 
result. South and North Germany had marched side by 
side to the battle-field, with every difference of race or creed 
forgotten, and the honour of the German fatherland the sole 
watchword. The time seemed to have arrived to close the 
breach between north and south, and obliterate the line of 
the Main, which had divided the two sections. North 
Germany was united under the leadership of Prussia, and 
the honour in which all alike shared now brought South 
Germany into line for a similar union. 

The first appeal in this direction came from Baden. Later 
in the year plenipotentiaries sought Versailles from the 
kingdoms of Bavaria and Wiirtemberg and the grand duchies 
of Baden and Hesse, their purpose being to arrange for and 
define the conditions of union between the South and the 
North German states. For weeks this momentous question 
filled all Germany with excitement, and public opinion was 
in a state of high tension. The scheme of union was by no 
means universally approved, there being a large party in op- 
position, but the majority in its favour proved sufficient to 
enable Bismarck to carry out his plan. 



300 



CHAPTER XVIII 

BISMARCK AND THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE 

Building the Bulwarks of the Twentieth-Century 

Nation 

Bismarck as a Statesman : Uniting the German 
States : William I crowned at Versailles : A Sig- 
nificant Decade : The Problem of Church Power : 
Progress of Socialism : William II and the Resigna- 
tion of Bismarck : Political and Industrial Con- 
ditions in Germany 
THROUGHOUT the various events narrated in the two 
preceding chapters the hand of Bismarck was everywhere 
visible. He had proved himself a statesman of the highest 
powers, and these powers were devoted without stint to the 
aggrandizement of Prussia. As for the surrounding nations 
and their rights and immunities, these did not count as 
against his policies. Conscience did not trouble him. The 
slaughter of thousands of men on the battle-field did not 
disturb his equanimity. He was unalterably fixed in his 
aim, unscrupulous in the means employed, shrewd, keen, 
and far-sighted in his measures, Europe being to him but a 
great chess-board, on which his hand moved kings, knights, 
and pawns with mechanical inflexibility. To him the end 
justified the means, however lacking in justice or mercy 
the means might prove. 

Denmark was despoiled to extend the territory of Prussia 
to the north. Austria, Bismarck's unwary accomplice, was, 
as we have seen, robbed of its share of the spoils, and 
drawn into a war in which it met with disastrous defeat, 
the prestige of Prussia being vastly increased on the field of 
Koniggratz. Subsequently came the great struggle with 
France, fomented by his wiles and ending in triumph for 
his policies. So far all had gone well for him, the final 
outcome of his schemes resulting in the unification of the 
minor German states and Prussia into one powerful empire. 

301 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

Bismarck as a Statesman 

It was in the formation of the modern German Empire that 
the far-sighted plans of Bismarck culminated. King William, 
who at this time was close on seventy-five years of age, was 
a tool in his hands for this purpose, moving as he suggested 
and doing as he wished. The states of Germany, with the 
exception of Austria, having actively participated in the 
recent war, the steps toward unification which had been 
taken during the few preceding years had now reached the 
point in which a complete amalgamation might be effected. 
The Holy Roman Empire, which had lasted throughout the 
mediaeval period, at times predominant, at times a mere name, 
had received its death-blow from the hands of Napoleon and 
had vanished from the historic stage. It was Bismarck's 
design to restore the German Empire — not the old, moth- 
eaten fiction of the past, but an entirely new one— and give 
Prussia the position it had earned, that of the great centre 
of German racial unity. In this project Austria, long at the 
head of the old empire, was to have no part, the imperial 
dignity being conferred upon the venerable King William of 
Prussia, a monarch whose birth dated back to the eighteenth 
century, and who had lived throughout the Napoleonic wars. 

Uniting the German States 

Near the close of 1870 Bismarck concluded treaties with the 
ambassadors of the South German States, in which they 
agreed to accept the constitution of the North German 
Union. These treaties were ratified, after some opposition 
from the ' patriots ' of the lower house, by the legislatures 
of the four states involved. The next step in the proceeding 
was a suggestion from the King of Bavaria to the other 
princes that the imperial crown of Germany should be offered 
to King William of Prussia. 

When the North German Diet at Berlin had given its consent 
to the new constitution, a congratulatory address was 
302 



THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE 

dispatched to the Prussian monarch at Versailles. It 
announced to the aged hero-king the nation's wish that he 
should accept the new dignity. He replied to the deputation 
in solemn audience that he accepted the imperial dignity 
which the German nation and its princes had offered him. 
On the 1st of January, 1871, the new constitution was to 
come into operation. 

William I crowned at Versailles 

The solemn assumption of the imperial office did not take 
place, however, until the 18th of January, the day on which, 
one hundred and seventy years before, the new emperor's 
ancestor, Frederick I, had placed the Prussian crown on his 
head at Konigsberg, and thus laid the basis of the growing 
greatness of his house. It was an ever- memorable coinci- 
dence that, in the superb mirrored hall of the Versailles 
palace, where since the days of Richelieu so many plans 
had been concocted for the humiliation of Germany, King 
William should now proclaim himself German Emperor. 
After the reading of the imperial proclamation to the German 
people by Count Bismarck, a cheer was raised, and the 
whole assembly joined in the singing of national hymns. 
Thus the important event had taken place which again 
summoned the German Empire to life, and made over the 
imperial crown with renewed splendour to another royal 
house. Barbarossa's old prophecy that the dominion of the 
empire was, after long tribulation, to pass from the Hohen- 
staufen to the Hohenzollern, was now fulfilled ; the goal 
long aspired after by German youth had become a reality 
and a living fact. 

The tidings of the conclusion of peace with France, whose 
preliminaries were completed at Frankfort on the 10th of 
May, 1871, filled all Germany with joy, and peace festivals 
on the most splendid scale extended from end to end of 
the new empire, in all parts of which an earnest spirit of 

303 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

patriotism was shown, while Germans throughout the whole 
world sent expressions of warm sympathy with the new 
national organization of their fatherland. 

A Significant Decade 

The decade just completed had been one of remarkable 
political changes in Europe, unsurpassed in significance 
during any other period of equal length. The temporal 
dominion of the Pope had vanished and all Italy had been 
united under the rule of a single king. The empire of 
France had been overthrown and a republic established in 
its place, while that country had temporarily lost her high 
position among the European states. Austria had been 
utterly defeated in war, had lost its last hold on Italy and 
its position of influence among the German states. And all 
the remaining German lands had united into a great and 
powerful empire, promising to gain such extraordinary 
military strength that the surrounding nations looked on in 
doubt, full of vague fears of trouble from this new and 
potent power introduced into their midst. 
Bismarck, however, showed an earnest desire to maintain 
international peace and good relations, seeking to win the 
confidence of foreign governments, while at the same time 
he improved and increased that military force which had 
been proved to be so mighty an engine of war. 
In the constitution of the new empire two legislative bodies, 
already possessed by the Confederation of North German 
States, were provided for— the Bundesrath or Federal Council, 
whose members are annually appointed by the respective 
state governments, and the Reichstag or representative body, 
whose members are elected by universal suffrage for a period 
of five years, an annual session being required. Germany 
therefore, in its present organization, is practically a federal 
union of states, each with its own powers of internal govern- 
ment, and with a common legislature roughly approximating 
304 




.4 ::j 






Ufe..,i.U.Mir.- v v^ a t , , ,JtL 



THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE 
:o our Houses of Lords and Commons. But the power 
d{ the Reichstag was never anything Hke as great as that of 
:he British House of Commons, since it has no power over 
:he executive, and the German Emperor has never been, 
;trictly speaking, a constitutional monarch. Largely owing 
:o the fact that the consent of both assemblies was necessary 
:o change the law, William governed as he pleased and had 
lo other minister than the High Chancellor of the empire 
'esponsible solely to the sovereign. After 1870 he was in 
:he empire what he had been previously in Prussia, the 
essential representative of the country and the supreme head 
)f the military forces. 

rhe remaining incidents of Bismarck's remarkable career 
nay be briefly given. It consisted largely in a struggle with 
:he Catholic Church organization, which had attained to 
yreat power in Germany, and was aggressive to an extent that 
'oused his vigorous opposition, for Bismarck was not the man 
:o acknowledge any power other than that of the emperor. 

Fhe Problem of Church Power 

King Frederick William IV, the predecessor of the reigning 
Tionarch, had made active efforts to strengthen the Catholic 
I^hurch in Prussia, its clergy gaining greater privileges in 
:hat Protestant state than they possessed in any of the 
Catholic states. They had established congregations and 
nonasteries everywhere in North Germany, and by their 
control of public education seemed in a fair way eventually 
:o make Catholicism supreme in the empire. 
Fhis state of affairs Bismarck set himself energetically to 
reform. The Minister of Religious Affairs was forced to resign, 
md his place was taken by Falk, a sagacious statesman, who 
introduced new laws, bringing the whole educational system 
under state control, and carefully regulating the power of 
the clergy over religious and moral education. This law 
met with such violent opposition that all the personal 

u 305 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

influence of Bismarck and Falk were needed to carry it, and 
it gave such deep offence to the Pope that he refused to receive 
the German ambassador and declared the Falk law invalid. 
The German bishops then united in a declaration against the 
Chancellor ; Bismarck retorted to this by a law expelling the 
Jesuits and all similar orders from the empire. 
In 1873 the state of affairs became so embittered that the 
rights and liberties of the citizens seemed to need protection 
against a priesthood armed with extensive powers of disci- 
pline and excommunication. In consequence Bismarck 
introduced, and by his eloquence and influence carried, 
what were known as the May Laws. These required the 
scientific education of the Catholic clergy, the confirmation 
of clerical appointments by the state, and the formation of 
a tribunal to consider and revise the conduct of the bishops. 
These enactments precipitated a bitter contest between 
Church and State, while the Pope declared the IMay Laws 
null and void and threatened with excommunication all 
priests who should submit to them. The State retorted by 
withdrawing its financial support from the Catholic Church 
and abolishing those clauses of the constitution under which 
the Church claimed independence of the State. Pope 
Pius IX died in 1878, and on the election of Leo XIII 
attempts were made to reconcile the existing differences. 
The reconciliation was a victory for the Church, since the 
May Laws ceased to be operative, the Church revenues were 
restored and the control of the clergy over education in 
considerable measure was regained. New concessions were 
granted in 1886 and 1887, and Bismarck felt himself beaten 
in his long conflict with his clerical opponents, who had 
proved too strong and deeply entrenched for him. 

Progress of Socialism 

Economic questions became also prominent, the revenues of 

the empire requiring some change in the system of free trade 

306 



THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE 
and the adoption of protective duties, while the railways 
were acquired as public property by the various states of 
the empire. Meanwhile the rapid growth of socialism excited 
apprehension, which was added to when two attempts were 
made on the life of the emperor. These were attributed to 
the social-democrats, and severe laws for the suppression of 
socialism were enacted. Bismarck also sought to cut the 
ground from under the feet of the socialists by an endeavour 
to improve the condition of the working classes. In 1883 
and 1884 laws were passed compelling employers to insure 
their workmen in case of sickness or accident, and in 1888 
a system of compulsory insurance against death and old age 
was introduced, and came into force on January 1st, 1891. 
None of these measures, however, checked the growth of 
socialism, which very actively continued. 
In 1882 a meeting was arranged by the Chancellor between 
the Emperors of Germany, Russia, and Austria, which was 
looked upon in Europe as a political alliance. In 1878 
Russia drifted somewhat apart from Germany, but in the 
following year an alliance was concluded between Germany 
and Austria, the former of whom at a later date concluded a 
similar alliance with Italy. This, which at the outbreak of the 
Great War was still in force, is known as the Triple Alliance. 
In 1877 Bismarck announced his intention to retire, being 
worn out with the great labours of his position. To this 
the emperor, who felt that his state rested on the shoulders 
of the Iron Chancellor, would not listen, though he gave him 
indefinite leave of absence. 

On March 9th, 1888, the Emperor William died. He had 
nearly completed his ninety-first year, having been born on 
March 22nd, 1797. He was succeeded by his son Frederick, 
then incurably ill from a cancerous affection of the throat, 
which carried him to the grave after a reign of ninety-nine 
days. His eldest son, William, succeeded as William II 
on June 15th, 1888, at the age of twenty-nine. 

307 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

William II and the Resignation of Bismarck 
The liberal era which was looked for under Frederick was 
checked by his untimely death, his son at once returning to 
the policy of William I and Bismarck. He proved to be far 
more positive and dictatorial in disposition than his grand- 
father, with decided and vigorous views of his own which 
soon brought him into conflict with the equally positive 
Chancellor. The result was a rupture with Bismarck, and 
his resignation (a virtual dismissal) in 1890. The young 
emperor proposed to be his own minister and subsequently 
devoted himself in a large measure to the increase of the 
army and navy, a policy which brought him into frequent 
conflicts with the Reichstag, whose rapidly growing socialistic 
membership was in strong opposition to this development of 
militarism. 

The old statesman, to whom Germany owed so much, was 
deeply aggrieved, in view of his great services to the state, by 
this lack of gratitude on the part of the self-opinionated young 
emperor. The wound rankled deeply, though a seeming 
reconciliation took place. But the political career of the 
great Bismarck was at an end, and he died on July 30th, 1898. 
It is an interesting coincidence that almost at the same time 
died the equally great, but markedly different, statesman of 
England, William Ewart Gladstone. j 

The career of William II soon became one of much interest j 
and some alarm to the other nations of Europe. His eager- I 
ness for the development of the army and navy, and the ' 
energy with which he pushed forward its organization and i 
sought to add to its strength, seemed significant of warlike 
intentions, and there was dread that this energetic young j 
monarch might break the peace of Europe if only to prove the j 
irresistible strength of the military machine he had formed, j 
But as years went on the apprehensions to which his early 
career and expressions gave rise were quieted, and the fear 
that he would plunge Europe into war was greatly diminished. 
308 



THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE 

The speeches with which the emperor began his reign showed 
an exaggerated sense of the imperial dignity, but his later 
career indicated more judgment and good sense than the 
early display of overweening self-importance promised, and 
the views of William II eventually came to command 
respect. He showed himself a man of exuberant energy. 
Despite a permanent weakness of his left arm and a serious 
affection of the ear, he early became a skilful horseman and 
an untiring hunter, as well as an enthusiastic yachtsman, 
and there were few men in the empire more active and 
enterprising than the Kaiser. 

Political and Industrial Conditions in Germany 
It may be of interest here to say something concerning the 
organization of the German empire. The constitution of this 
empire, as adopted on April 16th, 1871, proposes to " form 
an eternal union for the protection of the realm and the care 
of the welfare of the German people," and places the supreme 
direction of military and political affairs in the King of 
Prussia, under the title of deutscher Kaiser (German Em- 
peror). The war-making powers of the emperor, however, 
are restricted, since he is required to obtain the consent of 
the Bundesrath (the Federal Council) before he can declare 
war otherwise than for the defence of the realm. His 
authority as emperor, in fact, is much less than that which 
he exercises as King of Prussia, since the imperial legislature 
is independent of him, he having no power of veto over the 
laws passed by it. His actual military power, however, is 
practically supreme, as demonstrated in the opening events 
of the war of 1914. 

The legislature, as stated, consists of two bodies, the Bundes- 
rath, representing the states of the union, whose members, 
58 in number, are chosen for each session by the several 
state governments ; and the Reichstag, representing the 
people, whose members, 397 in number, are elected by 

309 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

universal suffrage for periods of five years. The executive, 
however, is entirely in the hands of the emperor f; and the 
appointment of ministers, ambassadors, consuls, and officials 
generally is — in theory, at least — made solely by him, and 
the officials appointed are responsible solely to him. In 
this direction the government of Germany exhibits a marked 
and fundamental difference from that of Great Britain, and 
this is well brought out by a remark once made by a jour- 
nalist to Prince von Biilow, a former German Imperial 
Chancellor. " Here," said he, " our parties do not feel as 
if they were the actors who perform in the play, but as if 
they were the critics who look on. They award praise and 
blame but they do not feel as if they themselves participated 
in what goes on." 

The German union, as constituted in 1914, comprised four 
kingdoms, six grand duchies, five duchies, seven princi- 
palities, three sovereign cities, and the Reichsland, or 
Imperial territory, of Alsace-Lorraine ; twenty-six separate 
states in all. It included all the German peoples of Europe 
with the exception of those of Austria. 

The progress of Germany within the modern period has been 
very great. The population of the states of the empire, 
24,831,000 at the end of the Napoleonic wars, had become 
by 1871 41,058,800; in 1900 the number of inhabitants 
had reached 56,637,200 ; and to-day it has risen to more 
than 65,000,000. The country, once divided into an 
unwieldy multitude of states, often of minute proportions, 
has become consolidated into the number above named, 
each of these possessing some degree of importance. These, 
as combined into a federal union, or empire, have an area 
of 208,810 square miles, of which Prussia holds the lion's 
share, its area being 134,636 square miles. 
The presidency of the empire belongs to the King of Prussia 
and is hereditary in his family. Besides the Imperial 
Parliament, each state has its own special legislature and 
310 



THE NEW GERMAN EMPIRE 

laws, but railways regarded as necessary for defence or the 
facilitating of general communications may come under a 
law of the empire, even against the opposition of the members 
of the confederation whose territory is traversed. The 
states have their respective armies, but it is the emperor 
who disposes of them ; he appoints the heads of the con- 
tingents, approves the generals, and has the right to establish 
fortresses over the whole territory of the empire. 
The increase in wealth of the German empire has surpassed 
the increase in population, Germany having developed into 
the most active manufacturing country in Europe. Agri- 
culture has similarly advanced, and one of its chief products, 
that of the sugar-beet, has enormously increased, beetroot 
sugar being among its chief industrial yields. In addition, 
Germany has grown to be one of the most active commercial 
nations of the earth, and its wealth and importance have 
been correspondingly augmented. From 1871 to 1914 the 
volume of German foreign trade rose from six thousand 
million to over nineteen thousand one hundred and fifty 
million marks. These particulars are of interest, not only 
as showing the standing of Germany at the outbreak of the 
war of 1914 and thereby indicating its degree of ability to 
bear its terrible strain, but also as affording a clue to the 
reason of Germany's overweening desire for territorial 
aggrandizement, and perhaps suggesting that it was largely 
with the idea of protecting her increasing overseas trade 
and her world-wide interests that her Kaiser announced 
that her future ' must be on the water.' 



311 



CHAPTER XIX 

GLADSTONE AS AN APOSTLE OF REFORM 

Great Britain a World-Power 

Gladstone and Disraeli : Gladstone's Famous Budget : 
A New Reform Bill : Disraeli's Reform Measure : 
Irish Church Disestablishment : An Irish Land 
Bill : Desperate State of Ireland : The Coercion 
Bill : Wars in Africa : Home Rule for Ireland 
IT is a fact of much interest, as showing the growth of the 
human mind, that WiUiam Ewart Gladstone, the great 
advocate of Enghsh Liberahsm, made his first pohtical 
speech in vigorous opposition to the Reform Bill of 1831. 
He was then a student at Oxford University, but this boyish 
address had such an effect upon his hearers that Bishop 
Wordsworth felt sure the speaker would " one day rise to be 
Prime Minister of England." This prophetic utterance 
may be mated with another one, by Archdeacon Denison, 
who said : " I have just heard the best speech I ever heard 
in my life, by Gladstone, against the Reform Bill. But, 
mark my words, that man will one day be a Liberal, for he 
argued against the Bill on liberal grounds." 
Both these far-seeing men hit the mark. Gladstone became 
Prime Minister and the leader of the Liberal party in Eng- 
land. Yet he had been reared as a Conservative, and for 
many years he marched under the banner of Conservatism. 
His political career began in the first Reform Parliament, 
in January, 1833. Two years afterward he was made an 
under-secretary in Sir Robert Peel's Cabinet. It was under 
the same Premier that he first became a full member of the 
Cabinet, in 1845, as Secretary of State for the Colonies. He 
was still nominally a Tory, but had become a Liberal in his 
commercial ideas, and was Peel's right-hand man in carrying 
out his free-trade policy. 

The repeal of the Corn Laws was the work for which his 
Cabinet had been formed, and Gladstone, as the leading free- 
312 



AN APOSTLE OF REFORM 
trader in the Tory ranks, was called to it. As for Cobden, 
the apostle of free trade, Gladstone admired him immensely. 
" I do not know," he said in later years, " that there is in 
any period a man whose public career and life were nobler 
or more admirable. Of course I except Washington. 
Washington, to my mind, is the purest figure in history." 
As an advocate of free trade Gladstone first came into 
connection with another noble figure, that of John Bright, 
who was to remain associated with him during most of his 
career. In 1850 he first took rank as one of the great moral 
forces of modern times. In that year he visited Naples, 
where he saw the barbarous treatment of political prisoners, 
under the government of the infamous Ferdinand II, ' King 
Bomba,' and described them in letters in which indignation 
was expressed in such vigorous tones that England was 
stirred to its depths and all Europe awakened, and the cause 
of Italian freedom given an impetus that had much to do 
with its subsequent success. 

Gladstone and Disraeli 

In 1852 Gladstone first came into opposition to Disraeli, 
against whom he was to be pitted during the remainder of 
the career of the latter. Benjamin Disraeli, who had made 
himself a power in Parliament, in that year became Chan- 
cellor of the Exchequer in Lord Derby's Cabinet and leader 
of the House of Commons, The revenue budget introduced 
by him showed a sad lack of financial ability, and called forth 
sharp criticisms, to which he replied in a speech made up of 
scoffs, gibes, and biting sarcasms, so daring and audacious 
in character as almost to intimidate the House. As he sat 
down Gladstone rose and launched forth into an oration 
which became historic. He gave voice to that indignation 
which lay suppressed beneath the cowed feeling which for 
the moment the Chancellor of the Exchequer's performance 
had left among his hearers. In a few minutes the House 

313 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

was wildly cheering the intrepid champion who had rushed 
into the breach, and when Gladstone concluded, having torn 
to shreds the proposals of the budget, a majority followed 
him into the division lobby, and Disraeli found his govern- 
ment beaten by nineteen votes. Such was the first great 
encounter between the two rivals. 

Gladstone's Famous Budget 

In the Cabinet that followed, headed by Lord Aberdeen, 
Gladstone succeeded Disraeli as Chancellor of the Exchequer, 
a position in which he was to make a great mark. In April, 
1853, he introduced his first budget, a marvel of ingenious 
statesmanship, in its highly successful effort to equalize 
taxation. It remitted various taxes which had pressed 
hard upon the poor and restricted business, and replaced 
them by applying the succession duty to real estate, in- 
creasing the duty on spirits, and extending the incidence of 
the income tax, which at the same time he reduced from 
7d. to 6d. 

Taken altogether, and especially in its expedients to equalize 
taxation, this first budget of Gladstone may be justly 
called the greatest of the century. The speech in which it 
was introduced and expounded created an extraordinary 
impression on the House and the country. For the first 
time in Parliament figures were made as interesting as a 
fairy tale ; the dry bones of statistics were invested with a 
new and potent life, and it was shown how the yearly 
balancing of the national accounts might be directed by 
and made to promote the profoundest and most fruitful 
principles of statesmanship. With such lucidity and pic- 
turesqueness was this financial oratory rolled forth that the 
dullest intellect could follow with pleasure the complicated 
scheme ; and for five hours the House of Commons sat as 
though under the sway of a magician's wand. When 
Gladstone resumed his seat, it was felt that the career of 
314 



AN APOSTLE OF REFORM 
the coalition ministry was assured by the genius that was 
discovered in its Chancellor of the Exchequer. 
It was, indeed, to Gladstone's remarkable oratorical powers 
that much of his success as a statesman was due. No man 
of his period was his equal in swaying and convincing his 
hearers. His rich and musical voice, his varied and animated 
gestures, his impressive and vigorous delivery, his wonderful 
precision and fluency, gave him a power over an audience 
which few men of the century enjoyed. His sentences, 
indeed, were long and involved, growing more so as his years 
advanced, but they carried away all that heard him with 
their deep earnestness and intense conviction. 
Meanwhile his Liberalism had been steadily growing, till 
in 1865 the Tory University of Oxford, which he had long 
represented, rejected him. The rejection was greeted by 
Gladstone as a compliment. He at once offered himself as 
a candidate for South Lancashire, and in the opening of his 
speech at Manchester said : " At last, my friends, I am come 
among you ; to use an expression which has become very 
famous and is not likely to be forgotten, ' I am come among 
you unmuzzled.' " 

Unmuzzled he indeed was, free at last to give the fullest 
expression to his Liberal faith. In 1865 Palmerston died. 
Lord John Russell succeeded him in the premiership and 
went to the Lords as Earl Russell, and Gladstone became, 
for the first time, leader of the House of Commons. Many 
of his friends feared for him in this difficult position ; but 
the event proved that they had no occasion for alarm, he 
showing himself one of the most successful leaders the House 
had ever had. 

A New Reform Bill 

His first important duty in this position was to introduce 
the new Reform Bill, a measure to extend the franchise in 
counties and boroughs that would have added about 145,000 

315 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

voters to the electorate. In the debate that followed 
Gladstone and Disraeli were again pitted against each other 
in a grand oratorical contest. Disraeli taunted him with his 
youthful speech at Oxford against the Reform Bill of 1831. 
Gladstone retorted by charging his opponent with clinging 
to a conservatism which he himself gloried in having been 
strong enough to reject. He ended with this stirring pre- 
diction : 

" You cannot fight against the future. Time is on our side. 
The great social forces which move onwards in their might 
and majesty, and which the tumult of our debates does not 
for a moment impede or disturb, those great social forces 
are against you : they are marshalled on our side ; and the 
banner which we now carry into this fight, though perhaps 
at some moment it may droop over our sinking heads, yet 
it soon again will float in the eye of Heaven, and it will be 
borne by the firm hands of the united people of the three 
kingdoms, perhaps not to an easy, but to a certain, and to a 
not far distant, victory." 

He was right in saying that it would not be a distant victory. 
Disraeli and his party defeated the Bill, but the people rose 
in a vigorous demand for it, and John Bright, an eloquent 
orator and strenuous advocate of moral reform and political 
progress, joined Gladstone in his campaign. Through the 
force of their eloquence the tide of public opinion rose to 
such a height that the new Derby-Disraeli ministry was 
obliged to bring in a Bill similar in purpose to that which it 
had overthrown. 

Disraeli's Reform Measure 

This Tory Bill proved satisfactory to Gladstone in its general 
features. He had won a great victory in forcing its intro- 
duction. But he proposed so many changes in its details 
— all of them yielded in committee — that a satirical lord 
remarked that nothing of the original Bill remained but its 
316 



AN APOSTLE OF REFORM 
opening word ' Whereas.' As thus modified, it was more 
liberal than the measure that had been defeated, and the 
people gave Gladstone full credit for it, and for their right 

Thrt^o political champions, Gladstone and Disraeh, soon 
after attained the summit of political ambition. In Feb- 
ruary, 1868. the failing health of Lord Derby forced him to 
resign and DisraeU, the 'Asian Mystery' as he had been 
called, succeeded him as Prime Minister. But he did not 
hold this office long ; his party was defeated on the question 
of the disestabhshment of the Irish Church and on Decem- 
ber 4th of the same year Gladstone took his place. Thus 
after thirty-flve years of pubUc life, Gladstone had attained 
the post in which he was to spend most of his later years. 
The period which followed the election of 1868-the period 
of the Gladstone Administration of 1868-74-has been 
called 'the golden age of Liberalism.' It was certainly a 
period of great reforms. The first, the most heroic, and 
probably-taking all the results into account-the most 
completely successful of these, was the disestabhshment of 
the Irish Church. 

Irish Church Disestablishment , , ^ „f 

Any interference with the prerogatives or absoluteness of 
an established church institution is sure to/T^V^ff^"^ 
opposition. The Disestablishment Bi 1, f ■^"f-^fi ^ Jf^ 
1st of March, 1869, was greeted m Ireland with the wildest 
protests from those interested in the Estabhshment. One 
rS clergyman offered to "kick the Q-n's crow„ -to 
the Boyne,'' if she assented to any such measure, while 
another^r^posed to fight with the Bible m one hand and 
the sword in the other. , 

Such outbreaks had no effect on Gladstone, whose speh 

was one of his greatest oratorical ^«hl<=r^";^"*!•„,/^'^f ^'id 
opponent declared that, though it lasted three hours, it did 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

not contain a redundant word, or unnecessary phrase. The 
scheme which it unfolded withdrew the temporal establish- k 
ment of a Church in such a manner that the Church was P 
benefited, not injured ; it extricated the Church of England ? 
from an awkward and anomalous position, and it lifted \ 
from the backs of an oppressed people an intolerable burden, 
Disraeli's speech in opposition to this measure was referred f 
to by the Times as " flimsiness relieved by spangles." 
After a debate in which Mr. Bright made one of his most 
famous speeches, the Bill was carried by a mxajority of 118. 
Before this strong manifestation of the popular will the | 
House of Lords, which deeply disliked the Bill, felt obliged | 
to give way, and eventually passed it in a slightly modified 
form by a majority of seven. 

An Irish Land Bill 

In 1870 Gladstone introduced his Irish Land Bill, a measure 
of reform which Parliament had for years refused to 
grant. By it the tenant was given the right to hold his 
farm as long as he paid his rent, and received a claim upon 
the improvement made by himself and his predecessors — 
a tenant-right which he could sell. This Bill was trium- 
phantly carried ; and another important Liberal measure, 
Mr. Forster's Education Bill, became law. 
Other Liberal measures were passed, but the tide which had 
set so long in this direction turned at last, the government 
was defeated in 1873 on an Irish University Education Bill, 
and in a subsequent election the Liberal party met with 
defeat. Gladstone at once resigned and was succeeded by 
Disraeli, who in 1876 was raised to the peerage under the 
title of the Earl of Beaconsfield. Gladstone had no ambition 
for honours of this type ; he much preferred to be considered 
as ' one of the people.' During his holiday from office 
he occupied himself in literary labours and in criticisms 
upon the foreign policy of Disraeli, which plunged the 
318 



AN APOSTLE OF REFORM 

country into a Zulu war, denounced by Gladstone as " one 
of the most monstrous and indefensible in our history," and 
an Afghan war which he described as a national crime. 
These and other acts of Tory policy in time brought Liberalism 
again to the front. An election held in 1880 resulted in a 
great Liberal victory, Beaconsfield resigned, and Gladstone 
was once again called to the head of the ministry. In the 
new administration affairs in the East, which had held 
precedence over domestic matters under the preceding 
administration, vanished from sight, and the Irish question 
again became prominent. Ireland had now gained an able 
leader in Charles Stewart Parnell, founder of the union of 
Irish farmers known as the Land League, and its concerns 
could no longer be consigned to the background. 
Gladstone, in assuming control of the new government, was 
quite unaware of the task before him. When he had com- 
pleted his work with the Church and the Land Bills ten years 
before, he fondly fancied that the Irish question was definitely 
settled. The Home Rule movement, which was started in 
1870, seemed to him a wild delusion which would die away 
of itself. In 1884 he said : "I frankly admit that I had 
had much upon my hands connected with the doings of the 
Beaconsfield Government in every quarter of the world, and 
I did not know — no one knew— the severity of the crisis that 
was already swelling upon the horizon, and that shortly 
after rushed upon us like a flood." 

Desperate State of Ireland 

He was not long in discovering the gravity of the situation, 
of which the House had been warned by Parnell. The famine 
had brought its crop of misery, and, while the charitable 
were seeking to relieve the distress, many of the landlords 
were turning their tenants adrift for non-payment of rent. 
The Irish party brought in a Bill for the Suspension of 
Evictions, which the government replaced by a similar one 

319 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

for Compensation for Disturbance. This was passed with 
a large majority by the Commons, but was rejected by the 
Lords, and Ireland was left to face its misery. 
Her state at that moment was too critical to be dealt with 
in this manner. The rejection of the Compensation for 
Disturbance Bill was, to the peasantry whom it had been 
intended to protect, a message of despair, and it was followed 
by the usual symptom of despair in Ireland, an outbreak of 
agrarian crime. On the one hand over 15,000 persons were 
threatened with eviction ; on the other there was a dreadful 
crop of murders and outrages. The Land League sought to 
do what Parliament did not ; but in doing so it came in 
contact with the law. Moreover, the revolution — for revo- 
lution it seemed to be — grew too formidable for its control ; 
the utmost it succeeded in doing was in some sense to ride 
without directing the storm. The first decisive step of 
Mr. Forster, the Chief Secretary for Ireland, was to strike a 
blow at the Land League. In November, 1880, he ordered 
the prosecution of Parnell, Biggar, and several of the officials 
of the organization, and before the year was out he announced 
his intention of introducing a Coercion Bill. This step 
threw the Parnellites into relations of definite antagonism 
with the Liberal Government. 

The Coercion Bill 

Parnell was acquitted, and Mr. Forster introduced his 
Coercion Bill on January 24, 1881. It was a formidable 
measure, which enabled the Chief Secretary, by signing a 
warrant, to arrest any man on suspicion of having committed 
a given offence, and to imprison him without trial at the 
pleasure of the government. It practically suspended the 
liberties of Ireland. The Irish members exhausted every 
resource of parliamentary action in resisting it, and their 
tactics resulted in several scenes unprecedented in parlia- 
mentary history, and on one occasion, much to Gladstone's 
320 




o 

"A 
O 

H 
O 

P^ 
> 

M 

O 

O 



AN APOSTLE OF REFORM 
sorrow, it was necessary to suspend the entire Parnellite 
party. 

The Coercion Bill passed, Gladstone introduced his Land 
Bill of 1881, which was the measure of conciliation in- 
tended to balance the measure of repression. This was 
really a great and sweeping reform, whose dominant feature 
was the introduction of the novel and far-reaching principle 
of the state stepping in between landlord and tenant and 
fixing the rents. The Bill had some defects, as a series of 
amending Acts, which were subsequently passed by both 
Liberal and Tory governments, proved ; but, apart from 
these, it was, short of Home Rule itself, the greatest measure 
of reform ever passed for Ireland by the Imperial Parliament. 
But Ireland was not yet satisfied. Parnell had no confidence 
in the good intentions of the government, and took steps to 
test its honesty, which so angered Mr. Forster that he 
arrested Parnell and several other leaders and pronounced 
the Land League an illegal body. Forster was well-meaning 
but mistaken. He fancied that by locking up the ring- 
leaders he could bring quiet to the country, but, on the 
contrary, affairs were soon far worse than ever, crime and 
outrage spreading widely. 

At this point the Cabinet in despair ordered the release of 
Parnell, and Mr. Forster resigned. All now seemed hopeful ; 
coercion had proved a failure ; peace and quiet were looked 
for ; when, four days later (May 6th), the whole country 
was horrified by a terrible crime. The new Secretary for 
Ireland, Lord Frederick Cavendish, and the Under-Secretary, 
Mr. Burke, were attacked and stabbed to death in Phoenix 
Park. Everywhere panic and indignation arose. A new 
coercion Act, the Crimes Act, was passed without delay. 
It was vigorously put into effect, and a state almost 
bordering on war between England and Ireland again came 
into existence. 



321 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

Wars in Africa 

Meanwhile events were taking place abroad which must here 
be dealt with briefly. In 1875 Great Britain had acquired 
the control of the Suez Canal, an acquisition that carried 
with it the necessity of taking a prominent part in the affairs 
of Egypt, which, through the extravagance and misrule of 
the Khedive, Ismail Pasha, were in a very serious state. 
The Khedive was deposed by the Porte in 1879 and was 
succeeded by his son, Tewfik Pasha, who was assisted by 
an Anglo-French dual control. A military insurrection, 
however, broke out in 1882 under the direction of Arabi 
Pasha, and the Powers were obliged to intervene. 
Gladstone, who deprecated war, now found himself with a 
conflict on his hands. In July the British fleet bombarded 
Alexandria, and the town was occupied after it had been 
half reduced to ashes. Soon after (September 13th) General 
Wolseley defeated Arabi and his army at Tel-el-Kebir, and 
the insurrection ended, but in 1884 it had its sequel in a 
formidable outbreak in the Sudan, the story of which is told 
in a later chapter. Years passed before Upper Egypt was 
reconquered, it being recovered only at the close of the 
century, when it returned to British control under the 
nominal suzerainty of the Porte. At the end of 1914, 
however, this state of affairs came to an end, as will be 
seen, and the shadow of Turkish rule was finally done away 
with. 

There were serious troubles also in South Africa. In 1877 
the British Government, in consequence of native troubles 
and financial difficulties, but in opposition to the wishes 
of the Boers themselves, had annexed the Boer settlement of 
the Transvaal. The valiant Dutch settlers broke into war, 
and dealt the invaders a signal defeat at Majuba Hill in 1881. 
The Transvaal was restored to the Boers, but this was the 
opening step in a series of occurrences which led to the later 
Boer War of 1899-1902, in which the British, with great 
322 



AN APOSTLE OF REFORM 
difficulty, conquered the Boers, For a time the Transvaal 
was held as a Crown Colony, but in 1905 it was granted self- 
government, with the result that to-day its Boer inhabitants 
are among the most loyal lieges of the British Crown. 
At home the Irish question continued in the forefront. 
The African wars having weakened the administration, a 
vigorous assault was made on it by the Irish party in 1885, 
and it fell. But its disappearance was very brief. After a 
short experience of a Tory ministry under Lord Salisbury, 
Parnell's party rallied to Gladstone's side, the new govern- 
ment was defeated, and on February 1, 1886, Gladstone 
became Prime Minister for the third time. 

Home Rule for Ireland 

During the interval Gladstone's opinions had suffered a great 
revolution. He no longer thought that Ireland had all it 
could justly demand. He returned to power as an advocate 
of a most radical measure, that of Home Rule for Ireland, 
a restoration of that separate Parliament which it had lost 
in 1800. He also had a scheme to buy out the Irish land- 
lords and establish a peasant proprietary by state aid. His 
new views were revolutionary in character, but he did not 
hesitate — he never hesitated to do what his conscience told 
him was right. On April 8, 1886, he introduced to Parlia- 
ment his Home Rule Bill. 

The scene that afternoon was one of the most remarkable 
in Parliamentary history. Never before was such interest 
manifested in a debate by either the public or the members 
of the House. Members arrived at St Stephen's at six 
o'clock in the morning, and those who could not find places 
on the benches filled up the floor of the House with rows of 
chairs. The galleries were filled to overflowing with diplo- 
mats, peers, and ladies who had come to be witnesses of the 
greatest feat in the lifetime of an illustrious old man of nearly 
eighty. Around Palace Yard an enormous crowd surged, 

323 



THE NATIONS AT WAR | 

and Gladstone arrived in the House, pale and still panting | 
from the excitement of his reception in the streets. I 

At his entrance the NationaUst members and the entire 
Liberal party— with the exception of Lord Hartington, 
Sir Henry James, Mr. Chamberlain, and Sir George Trevelyan 
—by a spontaneous impulse, sprang to their feet and cheered 
him again and again. The speech which he delivered was in 
every way worthy of the occasion. It expounded, with 
marvellous lucidity and a noble eloquence, a tremendous 
scheme of constructive legislation— the re-establishment of 
a legislature in Ireland, but one subordinate to the Imperial 
Parliament, and hedged around with every safeguard which 
could protect the unity of the empire. It took three hours 
in delivery, and was listened to throughout with the utmost 
attention on every side of the House. At its close all parties 
united in a tribute of admiration for the genius which had 
astonished them with such an exhibition of its powers. 
Yet it is one thing to cheer an orator, another thing to vote 
for a revolution. The Bill was rejected— as it was almost 
sure to be. Gladstone at once dissolved Parliament and ap- 
pealed to the country, with the result that he was decisively 
defeated. His bold declaration that the contest was one 
between the classes and the masses turned the aristocracy 
against him, while he had again roused the bitter hatred of \ 
his opponents. I 

Gladstone, the ' Grand Old Man,' a title which he had j 
nobly won, returned to power in 1892, after a period ofi 
wholesale coercion in Ireland. He was not to remain there , 
long. He brought in a new Home Rule Bill, supported it j 
with much of his old vigour, and had the intense satisfaction | 
of having it passed, with a majority of forty-three. It was i 
defeated in the House of Lords, and the public career of the j 
Grand Old Man came to an end. The burden had grown | 
too heavy for his reduced strength. In March, 1894, to the | 
consternation of his party, he announced his intention of | 
324 I 



AN APOSTLE OF REFORM 

retiring from public life. The Queen offered, as she had 
done once before, to raise him to the peerage as an earl, 
but he declined, for his own plain name was a title higher 
than that of any earldom in the kingdom. 
On May 19, 1898, WiUiam Ewart Gladstone laid down the 
burden of his life as he had already done that of labour, and 
Ireland had to wait sixteen years before that labour bore its 
harvest. For the Home Rule Bill became the Home Rule 
Act in 1914, just after the outbreak of the Great War. 
Special legislation in the shape of the Parliament Act had 
to be carried before it was enabled to pass the House of 
Lords, but a very large majority in the House of Commons 
was in its favour. 



325 



CHAPTER XX 

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 

Struggles of a New Nation 

The Republic organized : The Commune of Paris : 
Instability of the Government : Thiers ^proclaimed 
President : Punishment of the Unsuccessful Generals : 
MacMahon a Royalist President : Grevy, Gambetta, 
and Boulanger : The Panama Canal Scandal : 
Despotism of the Army Leaders : The Dreyfus Case : 
Church and State : The Moroccan Controversy 
IT has been already told how the capitulation of the French 
army at Sedan and the captivity of Louis Napoleon were 
followed in Paris by the overthrow of the empire and the 
formation of a republic, the third in the history of French 
political changes. A provisional government was formed, 
the legislative assembly was dissolved, and all the court 
paraphernalia of the imperial establishment disappeared. 
The new government was called in Paris the ' Government 
of Lawyers,' most of its members and officials belonging 
to that profession. At its head was General Trochu, in 
command of the army in Paris ; among its chief members 
were Jules Favre and Gambetta. While upright in its 
membership and honourable in its purposes, it was an ar- 
bitrary body, formed by a coup d'etat like that by which 
Napoleon had seized the reins of power, and not destined for 
a long existence. 

The Republic organized 

The news of the fall of Metz and the surrender of Bazaine 
and his army had served as a fresh spark to the inflammable 
public feeling of France. In Paris the Red Republic raised 
the banner of insurrection against the Government of the 
National Defence and endeavoured to revive the spirit of 
1793. The insurgents marched to the Senate House, 
demanded the election of a municipal council which should 
326 



THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 

share power with the government, and imprisoned Trochu, 
Jules Favre, and their associates. This, however, was but a 
momentary success of the Commune, and the provisional 
government continued in existence until the end of the war, 
when a National Assembly was elected by the people and 
the temporary government was set aside. Gambetta, the 
dictator, ' the organizer of defeats,' as he was sarcastically 
entitled, lost his power, and the aged statesman and historian, 
Louis Thiers, was chosen as chief of the executive depart- 
ment of the new government. 

The treaty of peace with Germany, including, as it did, the 
loss of Alsace and Lorraine and the payment of an indemnity 
of £200,000,000, roused once more the fierce passions of the 
Radicals and the masses of the great cities, who passionately 
denounced the treaty as due to cowardice and treason. 
The dethroned emperor added to the excitement by a 
manifesto, in which he protested against his deposition by 
the Assembly and called for a fresh election. The final 
incitement to insurrection came when the Assembly decided 
to hold its sessions at Versailles instead of in Paris, whose 
unruly populace it feared. 

The Commune of Paris 

In a moment all the revolutionary elements of the great 
city were in a blaze. The social democratic ' Commune,' 
elected from the central committee of the National Guard, 
renounced obedience to the government and the National 
Assembly, and broke into open revolt. An attempt to 
repress the movement merely added to its violence, and all 
the riotous populace of Paris sprang to arms. A new war 
was about to be inaugurated in that city which had just 
suffered so severely from the guns of the Germans, and around 
which German troops were still encamped. 
The government had neglected to take possession of the 
cannon on Montmartre ; and now, when the troops of the 

327 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

line, instead of firing on the insurrectionists, went over in \ 
crowds to their side, the supremacy over Paris fell into the 
hands of the wildest demagogues. A fearful civil war 
commenced, and in the same forts which the Germans had 
shortly before evacuated firing once more resounded ; the 
houses, gardens, and villages around Paris were again 
surrendered to destruction ; the creations of art, industry, 
and civilization were endangered, and the abodes of wealth 
and pleasure were transformed into dreary wildernesses. 
The wild outbreaks of fanaticism on the part of the Commune 
recalled the scenes of the Revolution of 1789. The insurgents, 
roused to fury by the efforts of the government to suppress 
them, murdered two generals, Lecomte and Thomas, and 
fired on the unarmed citizens who, as the 'friends of order,' 
desired a reconciliation with the authorities at Versailles. 
They formed a government of their own, extorted loans 
from wealthy citizens, confiscated the property of religious 
societies, and seized and held as hostages Archbishop 
Darboy and many other distinguished ecclesiastics and 
citizens. 

Meanwhile the investing French troops, led by Marshal 
MacMahon, gradually fought their way into the suburbs, 
and the speedy surrender of the anarchists in the capital 
became inevitable. This necessity excited their passions to 
the most violent extent, and, with the wild fury of savages, 
they set themselves to do all the damage they could to the 
historical monuments of Paris. The most historic buildings, 
including the Tuileries, a portion of the Louvre, the Luxem- 
burg, the Palais Royal, and the Elysee, were set on fire, 
and either partially or entirely destroyed ; while several of 
the imprisoned hostages, foremost among them Darboy, 
Archbishop of Paris, and the universally respected president, 
Bon jean, were shot by the infuriated mob. Such crimes 
excited the Versailles troops to terrible vengeance, when 
they at last succeeded in repressing the rebellion ; human life 
328 



THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 

was counted as nothing, the streets were stained with blood 
and strewn with corpses, and the Seine once more ran red 
between its banks. When at last the Commune surrendered, 
the judicial courts at Versailles began their work of retribu- 
tion. The leaders and participators in the rebellion who 
could not save themselves by flight were shot by hundreds, 
confined in fortresses, or transported to the colonies. For 
more than a year the imprisonments, trials, and executions 
continued, military courts being established which excited 
the world for months by their wholesale condemnations to 
exile and to death. The carnival of anarchy was followed 
by one of pitiless suppression. 

Instability of the Government 

The Republican government of France, which had been 
accepted in an emergency, was far from carrying with it the 
support of the whole of the Assembly or of the people, and 
the aged but active and keen-witted Thiers had to steer 
through a medley of opposing interests and sentiments. 
His government was considered, alike by the Monarchists 
and the Jacobins, as only provisional, and the Bourbons 
and Bonapartists on the one hand, and the advocates of 
' liberty, equality, and fraternity ' on the other, intrigued 
for its overthrow. But the German armies still remained on 
French soil, pending the payment of the costs of the war ; 
and the astute chief of the executive power possessed modera- 
tion enough to pacify the passions of the people, to restrain 
their hatred of the Germans, which was so boldly exhibited 
in the streets and in the courts of justice, and to quiet the 
clamour for a war of revenge. 

The position of parties at home was confused and distracted, 
and a disturbance of the existing order could only lead to 
anarchy and civil war. Thiers was thus the indispensable 
man of the moment, and so much was he himself impressed 
by the consciousness of this fact, that many times, by the 

329 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

threat of resignation, he brought the opposing elements in 
the Assembly to harmony and compliance. 
This occurred even during the siege of Paris, when the forces 
of the government were in conflict with the Commune. In 
the Assembly there was shown an inclination to moderate or 
break through the sharp centralization of the government, 
and to procure some autonomy for the provinces and towns. 
When, therefore, a new scheme was discussed, a large part 
of the Assembly demanded that the mayors should not, as 
formerly, be appointed by the government, but be elected by 
the town councils. Only with difficulty was Thiers able to 
effect a compromise, on the strength of which the government 
was permitted the right of appointment for all towns num- 
bering over twenty thousand. 

In the elections for the councils the Moderate Republicans 
proved triumphant. With a supple dexterity, Thiers knew 
how to steer between the Democratic-Republican party and 
the Monarchists. When Gambetta endeavoured to establish 
a ' league of Republican towns,' the attempt was forbidden 
as illegal ; and when the decree of banishment against the 
Bourbon and Orleans princes was set aside, and the latter 
returned to France, Thiers knew how to postpone the entrance 
into the Assembly of the Due d'Aumale and the Prince de 
Joinville, who had been elected deputies, at least until the 
end of the year. 

Thiers proclaimed President 

The brilliant success of the national loan went far to 
strengthen the position of Thiers. The high offers for a share 
in this loan, which indicated the wealth of the nation and the 
solid credit of France abroad, promised a rapid payment of 
the war indemnity, the consequent evacuation of the country 
by the German army of occupation, and a restoration of the 
disturbed finances of the state. The foolish manifesto of the 
Count de Chambord, who declared that he had only to return 
330 



THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 

with the white banner to be made sovereign of France, 
brought all practical men to the side of Thiers, and he had, 
during the last days of August, 1871, the triumph of being 
proclaimed ' President of the French Republic' 
The new president aimed, next to the liberation of the 
garrisoned provinces from the German troops of occupation, 
at the reorganization of the French army. Yet he could not 
bring himself to the decision of enforcing in its entirety the 
principle of general armed service, such as had raised Prussia 
from a state of depression to one of military regeneration. 
Universal military service in France was, it is true, adopted 
in name, and the army was increased to an immense extent, 
but under such conditions and limitations that the richer and 
more educated classes could exempt themselves from service 
in the army ; and thus the active forces, as before, consisted 
of professional soldiers. And when the Minister for Education, 
Jules Simon, introduced an educational law based on liberal 
principles, he experienced on the part of the clergy such 
violent opposition that the government dropped the measure. 
In order to place the army in the condition which Thiers 
desired, an increase in the military budget was necessary, 
and consequently an enhancement of the general revenues 
of the state. For this purpose a return to the tariff system, 
which had been abolished under the empire, was proposed, 
but excited so great an opposition in the Assembly that six 
months passed before it could be carried. The new organiza- 
tion of the army, undertaken with a view of placing France 
on a level in military strength with her late conqueror, was 
now eagerly undertaken by the president. An active army, 
with five years' service, was to be added to a ' territorial 
army,' a kind of militia. And so great was the demand on the 
portion of the nation capable of bearing arms that the new 
French army exceeded in numbers that of any other nation. 
But all the statesmanship of Thiers could not overcome the 
anarchy in the Assembly, where the forces for monarchy 

331 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

and republicanism were bitterly opposed to each other. 
Gambetta, in order to rouse public opinion in favour of 
democracy, made several tours through the country, his 
extravagance of language giving deep offence to the Mon- 
archists, while the opposed sections of the Assembly grew 
wider and more violent in their breach. 

Punishment of the Unsuccessful Generals 
Indisputable as were the valuable services which Thiers 
had rendered to France, by the foundation of public order 
and authority, the creation of a regular army, and the 
restoration of a solid financial system, yet all these services 
met with no recognition in the face of the party jealousy 
and political passions prevailing among the people's repre- 
sentatives at Versailles. More and more did the Royalist 
reaction gain ground, and, aided by the priests and by 
national hatred and prejudice, endeavour to bring about the 
destruction of its opponents. Superstition and fanaticism 
were let loose against the Radicals and Liberals, among 
whom even the Voltairean Thiers was included, and 
against the Bonapartists was directed the terrorism of 
court-martial. 

The French could not rest with the thought that their 
military supremacy had been broken by the superiority of 
the German arms ; their defeats, said they, could have 
proceeded only from the treachery or incapacity of their 
leaders. To this national prejudice the government decided 
to bow, and to offer a sacrifice to the popular passion. And 
thus the world beheld the lamentable spectacle of the 
commanders who had surrendered the French fortresses to 
the enemy being subjected to a trial by court-martial under 
the presidency of Marshal Baraguay d'Hilliers, and the 
majority of them, on account of their proved incapacity or 
weakness, deprived of their military honours, at a moment 
when all had cause to reproach themselves and to endeavour 
332 



THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 

to raise up a new structure on the ruins of the past. Even 
Ulrich, the once celebrated commander of Strasburg, whose 
name had been given to a street in Paris, was brought under 
the censure of the court-martial. But the chief blow fell 
upon the commander-in-chief at Metz, Marshal Bazaine, 
to whose shameful surrender of the town he was holding 
the whole misfortune of France was attributed ; had he 
held out but another fortnight, which, with the men, the 
arms, and the stores that he had at his command, he was 
very well able to do, the outcome of the Franco-Prussian War 
might have been very different from what it was. For 
months Bazaine was a prisoner at Versailles, and in 1873 
the court-martial took place under the presidency of the 
Due d'Aumale. The Marshal was condemned to death ; 
but this sentence was commuted to twenty years' imprison- 
ment, and before long Bazaine contrived to escape. He hid 
himself and his shame in Spain, where he died in 1888. 

MacMahon a Royalist President 

The result of the party division in the Assembly was, in May, 
1873, a vote of censure on the ministry, which induced them 
to resign. Their resignation was followed by an offer of 
resignation on the part of Thiers, who experienced the 
unexpected slight of having it accepted by the majority of 
the Assembly, the monarchist MacMahon, Marshal of France 
and Duke of Magenta, being elected president in his place. 
Thiers had just performed one of his greatest services to 
France, by paying off the last instalment of the war indemnity 
and relieving the soil of his country of the hated German 
troops. 

The party now in power at once began to lay plans to carry 
out their cherished purpose of placing a Legitimist king 
upon the throne, this honour being offered to the Count de 
Chambord, grandson of Charles X. He, an old man, put a 
sudden end to the hopes of his partisans by his mediaeval 

333 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

conservatism. Their purpose was to establish a constitu- 
tional government, under the tricoloured flag of revolutionary 
France ; but the old Bourbon gave them to understand 
that he would not consent to reign under the Tricolour, 
but must remain steadfast to the white banner of his ances- 
tors ; he had no desire to be ' the legitimate king of 
revolution.' 

This letter shattered the plans of his supporters. No man 
with ideas like these would be tolerated on the French throne. 
There was never to be in France a King Henry V. The 
Monarchists, in disgust at the failure of their schemes, 
elected MacMahon President of the Republic for a term of 
seven years, and for the time being the reign of republicanism 
in France was made secure. 

In 1875 the constitution under which France is now governed 
was adopted by the Republicans. It provides for a legislature 
of two chambers ; one a Chamber of Deputies elected by 
the people, the other a Senate of 300 members, 75 of whom 
are elected for nine years by the Senate itself, and the others, 
by electoral colleges in the departments of France for four 
years. The two chambers unite to elect a president, who 
has a term of seven years. He is commander-in-chief of 
the army, appoints all officers, receives all ambassadors, 
executes the laws, and appoints the Cabinet, which is re- 
sponsible to the Senate and House of Deputies — thus resem- 
bling the Cabinet of Great Britain. 

This constitution was soon ignored by the arbitrary president, 
who forced the resignation of a Cabinet which he could not 
control, and replaced it by another responsible to himself 
instead of to the Assembly. His act of autocracy roused a 
violent opposition. Gambetta moved that the representa- 
tives of the people had no confidence in a Cabinet which was 
not free in its actions and not republican in its principles. 
The sudden death of Thiers (September 3rd, 1877), whose 
last writing was a defence of the republic, stirred the heart 
334 



THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 

of the nation and added to the excitement, which soon reached 
fever heat. In the election that followed the Republicans 
were in so great a majority over the Conservatives that the 
president was compelled either to resign or to govern ac- 
cording to the constitution. He accepted the latter alter- 
native, and appointed a Cabinet composed of Republicans. 
But the acts of the legislature, which passed laws to prevent 
arbitrary action by the executive and to secularize education, 
so exasperated the old soldier that he finally resigned. 

Grevy, Gambetta, and Boulanger 

Jules Grevy was elected president in his place, and Gambetta 
was made president of the House of Deputies. Subsequently 
he was chosen presiding minister in a Cabinet composed 
wholly of his own creatures. His career in this high office 
was a brief one. The Chambers refused to support him in 
his arbitrary measures and he resigned in disgust. Soon 
after, on the last day of 1882, the self-appointed dictator, 
who had played so prominent a part in the war with Prussia, 
died from an accidental gun-shot wound. 
The constitution was revised in 1884, the republic now de- 
clared permanent and final, and at the close of the following 
year Grevy was again elected president. General Boulanger, 
the Minister of War in the new government, succeeded in 
making himself highly popular, many looking upon him as 
a coming Napoleon, by whose genius the republic would be 
overthrown. 

In 1887 Grevy resigned, in consequence of a scandal con- 
cerning traffic in the decorations of the Legion of Honour, 
in which his son-in-law was implicated, and was succeeded 
by Sadi Carnot, grandson of a famous general of the first 
republic. Under the new president two striking events 
took place. General Boulanger managed to lift himself into 
great prominence, and gain a powerful following of both 
Democrats and Royalists. Carried away by self-esteem, 

335 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

he defied his superiors, and when tried and found guilty, 
was strong enough to overthrow the ministry, to gain re- 
election to the Chamber of Deputies, and to defeat a second 
ministry. 

But his reputation was declining, and the next Cabinet being 
hostile to his intrigues, he fled to Brussels to escape arrest. 
Tried by the Senate, sitting as a High Court of Justice, he 
was found guilty of plotting against the state and sentenced 
to imprisonment for life. His career soon after ended in 
suicide (1891) and his party disappeared. 

The Panama Canal Scandal 

During these years the Panama Canal project gained un- 
enviable notoriety. De Lesseps, the maker of the Suez 
Canal, had undertaken to excavate a similar one across the 
isthmus of Panama, but the work was managed with such 
wild extravagance that the investors were entirely ruined, 
while the canal remained a half-dug ditch. At a later date 
this affair became a great scandal, dishonest bargains in 
connection with it were abundantly unearthed, bribery was 
shown to have been common in high places, and France 
was shaken to its centre by the startling exposure. De 
Lesseps, fortunately for him, escaped imprisonment by 
death, but others of the leaders in the enterprise were 
punished. 

In the succeeding years perils manifold threatened the 
existence of the French Republic. A moral decline seemed 
to have sapped the foundations of public virtue, and the 
new military organization rose to a dangerous height of 
power, becoming a monster of ambition and iniquity which 
overshadowed and portended evil to the state. The spirit 
of anarchy, which had been so strikingly displayed in the 
excesses of the Parisian Commune, was shown later in various 
instances of death and destruction by the use of dynamite 
bombs, exploded in Paris and elsewhere. But its most 
336 




AN AIvGERIAN SHARPSHOOTER WITH THE FRENCH ARMY' 
IN WINTER UNIFORM 

photo " Daily Mirror " 356 



THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 

striking example was in the murder of President Carnot, 
who was stabbed by an anarchist in the streets of Lyons on 
June 24th, 1894. This assassination, and the disheartening 
exposures of dishonesty in the Panama Canal case trials, 
stirred the moral sentiment of France to its depths, and made 
many of the best citizens despair of the permanency of the 
republic. 

Despotism of the* Army Leaders 

But the most alarming threat came from the army, which 
had grown in power and prominence until its leaders felt 
competent to set at defiance the civil authorities. This 
despotic army was an outgrowth of the Franco-Prussian War. 
The terrible punishment which the French had received in 
that war, and in particular the loss of Alsace and Lorraine, 
had filled them with bitter hatred of Germany and a burning 
desire for revenge. Yet it was evident that their military 
organization was so imperfect as to leave them helpless 
before the army of Germany, and the first thing to be done 
was to place themselves on a level in military strength with 
their foe. To this President Thiers had earnestly devoted 
himself, and the work of army organization went on until 
all France was virtually converted into a great camp, de- 
fended by powerful fortresses, and nearly the whole male 
population of the country was made part of the army. 
The final result of this was the development of one of the 
most complete and well-appointed military establishments 
in Europe. The immediate cause of the reorganization of 
the army gradually passed away. As time went on the 
intense feeling against Germany softened and the danger of 
war decreased. But the army became more and more 
dominant in France, and, as the century neared its end, the 
autocratic position of its leaders was revealed by a startling 
event, which showed vividly to the world the moral decadence 
of France and the controlling influence and dominating power 

Y 337 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

of the members of the General Staff. This was the celebrated 
Dreyfus Case, the cause celehre of the period. At the time 
concerned it excited the utmost interest, stirring France to 
its centre, and attracting the earnest attention of the world. 
It aroused indignation as well as interest, and years passed 
before it lost its hold on public attention. It can be dealt 
with here only with great brevity. 

The Dreyfus Case 

Albert Dreyfus, an Alsatian Jew, and a captain of artillery 
in the French army, was arrested on October 15, 1894, on 
the charge of having sold military secrets to a foreign Power. 
A letter and a document consisting of a list detailing the 
secrets forming the basis of the charge were said to have been 
found at the German Embassy by a French detective, in 
what was declared to be the handwriting of Dreyfus. 
Dreyfus was at once arrested. 

Previous to his arrest, the editor of the Libre Parole had 
been carrying on a violent anti-semitic agitation in his paper. 
He now raved about the Jews in general, declared Dreyfus 
guilty of selling army secrets to the Germans, and by his 
crusade turned public opinion in Paris strongly against all 
Jews, and particularly against the accused. He was tried 
before a military court, which sat behind closed doors, kept 
parts of the indictment from the knowledge of the prisoner 
and his lawyer, and in other ways showed unfairness. 
As a result of this secret trial Dreyfus was found guilty, 
condemned to be degraded from his military rank, and j 
imprisoned for life in the penal settlement of Devil's Island, 
off the coast of French Guiana, a tropical region, desolate 
and malarious in character. The sentence was executed I 
with the most cruel harshness. 

Dreyfus never ceased to deny his guilt. The letters he wrote 
to his counsel after the trial and after his disgrace are most \ 
pathetic assertions of his innocence, and of the hope that 
338 



THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 

ultimately justice would be done him ; and his wife and family 
continued to use every influence to get his case reopened. 
The whole affair in time excited a strong suspicion that 
Dreyfus had been used as a scapegoat for some one in high 
authority, and had been unjustly condemned, the fact of 
his being a Jew being used to excite prejudice against him. 
Many eminent literary men of France advocated the revision 
of a sentence which did not appeal to the sense of justice of 
the best French element. 

It was declared that military secrets continued to leak out 
after Dreyfus's arrest, and that the handwriting of the letter 
found was closely similar to that of Count Ferdinand Ester- 
hazy, an officer in the French army, of noble Hungarian 
descent. This matter was so ventilated that some action 
became necessary and Esterhazy was tried secretly by court- 
martial, the trial ending in acquittal. 

At this juncture Emile Zola, the celebrated novelist, stepped 
into the fray as a defender of Dreyfus, writing a notable 
letter to President Faure, in which he accused the members 
of the court-martial of acquitting Esterhazy under order of 
their chiefs, who would not admit that a military court 
of France could possibly make a mistake. 
This letter led to the arrest and secret trial of Zola and of 
the editor who published it. They were found guilty and 
sentenced to a heavy fine and a year's imprisonment. Zola 
escaped imprisonment by taking refuge in London. 
By this time the interest of the whole world was enlisted 
in the case, the action of the French courts was everywhere 
condemned, and in the end it was deemed advisable to bring 
Dreyfus back to France and accord him a new trial. This 
trial, which lasted from August 7th to September 9th, 1899, 
indicated that he had been convicted on the most flimsy and 
uncertain evidence, largely conjectural in character, while 
there was strong evidence in his favour. Yet the judges of 
the court-martial seemed biased against him, and by a vote 

339 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

of three judges to two, he was again found guilty — " of treason 
with extenuating circumstances," as if treason could be 
extenuated — and sentenced to ten years' imprisonment. 
The whole affair was a transparent travesty upon justice, 
and the method by which it was conducted threw into a 
strong light the faulty character of the French method of 
trial. The result, indeed, was so flagrantly unsatisfactory 
that ten days after the sentence had been pronounced he 
was pardoned by the president and immediately set at 
liberty. In July, 1906, his case was reopened before the 
Court of Appeal, with the result that he was acquitted, 
restored to his rank in the army, and decorated with the 
Legion of Honour. 

Church and State 

Later events of interest in French history had to do with 
the status of the Catholic Church in France and with the 
relations of France, Germany, and Spain to Morocco, the 
latter more than once threatening war. The union of Church 
and State in France, which had only before been broken 
during the turbulent period of the Revolution, was definitely 
abrogated by a law of December 19th, 1905. By this, and a 
supplementary Act in 1907, the Catholic Church was put on 
the same footing in the republic as the Protestant and Jewish 
congregations. The use of church buildings, which had been 
the property of the State since the Revolution, was granted 
only under conditions which the Pope refused to accept, 
and religious liberty made a radical advance in France. 

The Morocco Controversy 

Meanwhile troubles had arisen on the borders of Algeria 

between the French army of occupation and the unruly 

Moroccan tribes beyond the boundary. The efforts of France 

to abate these disturbances, which found support in the 

British Government, aroused opposition in Germany, which 

340 



THE FRENCH REPUBLIC 

objected to the claim of France to a predominant interest in 
Morocco. The affair went so far that in March, 1905, the 
Emperor Wilham II visited Tangier, had a conference with 
the representatives of the Sultan, and was reported to have 
agreed to enforce the integrity of Morocco. The friction 
that resulted was allayed by a conference of the Powers 
held at Algeciras, Spain, in the following September, and 
the trouble was temporarily settled by a series of resolutions 
establishing a number of reforms in Morocco, the privileged 
position of France along the Moroccan-Algerian frontier 
being acknowledged. 

Disturbances continued, however, and the murder of a 
French doctor by the tribesmen in March, 1907, led to the 
occupation of a Moroccan town by French troops. Later 
in the year a more serious affair took place at the port of 
Casablanca, which was raided by insurgent tribesmen, and 
European labourers and others were massacred. A French 
force landed on August 7th and a desperate fight took place, 
during which nearly every inhabitant of the town who had 
not fled was killed or wounded, the dead alone numbering 
thousands. 

In 1911 matters in Morocco grew serious, there being severe 
fighting by Spanish troops in the Spanish concession around 
Alcazar, while tribal outbreaks against Fez, the Sultan's 
capital, brought a French military expedition to that point. 
By this, communication between the capital and the coast 
was established, the French Government undertaking to 
organize the Sultan's army and carry out certain works of 
public improvement. 

These movements revived the suspicions of Germany, and 
that country took the decisive step of sending a war vessel 
to Agadir, a southern port of Morocco, with the ostensible 
purpose of protecting the persons and property of German 
subjects. This act led to the suspicion in France that 
Germany meant more than she said and that her real purpose 

341 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

was to gain a permanent hold on Moroccan territory. There 
was heated talk of war, but the affair was, in the end, 
amicably adjusted. 

It became known that France wished to secure a free hand 
in Morocco, outside of the coastal provinces held by Spain, 
and was willing in return to cede to Germany a considerable 
amount of territory in French Congo. The agreement 
finally reached, with the assent of the other Powers, especially 
Spain, which had a vital interest in the problem, was that 
France should be given a protectorate over Morocco, and 
in return Germany should receive about 102,300 square 
miles of the French Congo (in Equatorial Africa) adjoining 
the German district of Kamerun, containing a population of 
from 600,000 to 1,000,000, France retaining certain rights 
of way in the region. 

Thus ended a source of dispute which had more than once 
threatened war. It ended greatly to the advantage of France, 
whose interests in Morocco far outweighed any advantages 
likely to arise from her holdings in Central Africa. Behind 
all this lay the probability that her influence in and hold upon 
Morocco would increase until eventually it would develop 
into a virtual, perhaps an actual, sovereignty over that 
country. 



342 



CHAPTER XXI 

GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 

The Colonizing Nations 

Great Britain as a World-Power : Colonies in the 

Pacific Region : Colonization in Africa : British 

Colonies in Africa : The Mahdi Rebellion in Egypt : 

Gordon at Khartoum : Suppression of the Mahdi 

Revolt : Colonization in Asia : The British in 

India : Colonies in America : Development of 

Canada : Progress in Canada 

THE history of colonization in modern times may be said 

to date from the discovery of the New World in 1492, and 

almost from the very first Great Britain was one of the 

leaders of those nations which sought in untilled lands an 

outlet for their surplus populations. In the era preceding 

the nineteenth century Spain, France, and Great Britain 

were, as they had always been, the great colonizing Powers, 

and it was in this period that Great Britain's rapid advance 

to the foremost position took place. 

The Powers active in colonization within the nineteenth 
century, Great Britain and France, were the great rivals of 
the preceding period. But the former gained a decided 
start, and its colonial empire to-day surpasses that of any 
other nation of mankind. It is so enormous, in fact, as to 
dwarf the parent kingdom, which is related to its colonial 
dominion, so far as comparative acreage alone is concerned, 
as the small brain of the elephant is related to its great body. 
Other Powers, not heard of as colonizers in the past, have 
since come into this field, though too late to obtain any of 
the great prizes. These are Germany and Italy, the latter 
having recently added to its acquisitions by the conquest 
of Tripoli. But there is a Great Power still to name, which 
in its way stands as a rival to Great Britain, the empire of 
Russia, whose acquisitions in Asia have grown enormously 
in extent. These are not colonies in the ordinary sense, but 

343 



THE NATIONS AT WAR j 

rather results of the expansion of an empire through warlike ;[ 

aggression. Yet they are colonial in the sense of absorbing 'i 

the excess population of European Russia. The greater part S 

of Siberia was annexed by Russia long before the dawn of the [ 

nineteenth century, but within comparatively recent years j 

the Russian dominion in Asia has greatly increased, and has s 

now become enormous, extending from the Arctic Ocean | 
to the borders of Afghanistan, Persia, and the Asiatic empire 
of Turkey. 

Great Britain as a World-Power 

With this preliminary review we may proceed to consider 
the history of colonization within the recent period. And 
first we must take up the results of the colonial enterprise 
of Great Britain, as much the most important of the whole. 
In addition to Hindustan, in which the dominion of Great 
Britain now extends to Afghanistan and Tibet in the north, 
the British acquisitions in Asia included at the outbreak of 
the Great War of 1914 Burma and the west-coast region of 
Indo- China, with the Straits Settlements in the Malay 
peninsula, and the island of Ceylon, acquired in 1802 from 
Holland, besides places of less importance. 
In the eastern seas Great Britain possesses a valuable colony 
of vast dimensions, the continental island of Australia, which, 
with its area of over 3,063,000 square miles, is more than 
four-fifths the size of Europe. The first British settlement 
was made here in 1788, at Port Jackson, the site of the 
present thriving city of Sydney, and the island was long 
maintained as a penal settlement, convicts being sent there 
as late as the early 'fifties. It was to the discovery of 
gold in 1851 that Australia owed its great progress. This 
attraction drew the enterprising by thousands, until the 
population of the colony is now more than 4,800,000, and 
is still growing at a rapid rate. There are other valuable re- 
sources besides gold, especially meat and wool. Of its cities, 
344 



GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 

Melbourne, the capital of Victoria, with its suburbs, has 
more than 590,000 population ; Sydney, the capital of New 
South Wales, 637,000, while there are other cities of rapid 
growth. Australia is the one important British colony 
obtained without a war. In its human beings, as in its 
animals generally, it stood at a low level of development, 
and it was taken possession of almost without a protest 
from the scanty savage inhabitants. 

Colonies in the Pacific Region 

The same cannot be said of New Zealand, an important 
group of islands lying south-east of Australia, which was 
acquired by Great Britain as a colony in 1840. The Maoris, 
as the people of these islands call themselves, are of the bold 
and sturdy Polynesian race, a brave, generous, and warlike 
people, who have given their British lords and masters no little 
trouble. In 1840 there were probably about 100,000 Maoris 
in the islands, by the close of the century their numbers had 
dwindled to 43,000, but since then there has been an increase 
and they now total about 50,000. A series of wars with 
the natives began in 1843 and continued with interruptions 
until 1869, since which time New Zealand has enjoyed peace. 
At present this colony is one of the most advanced politically 
of any region on the face of the earth, so far as attention to 
the interests of the masses of the people is concerned, and 
its laws and regulations offer a useful object-lesson to the 
rest of the world. 

In addition to those great island dominions in the Pacific, 
Great Britain possesses the Fiji Islands, the northern part 
of Borneo, and a large section of the extensive island of 
Papua or New Guinea, the remainder of which, at the begin- 
ning of the Great War was held by Holland and Germany, 
but in the second week of September, 1914, the headquarters 
of the German portion was captured by an Australian ex- 
pedition and the Union Jack supplanted the German flag. 

345 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

Besides these Great Britain has various coahng stations on 
the islands and coasts of Asia. In the Mediterranean her 
possessions are Gibraltar, Malta, and Cyprus, and in America 
the great Dominion of Canada, a considerable number of the 
islands of the West Indies, the districts of British Honduras \ 
and British Guiana, and the Falkland Islands. 
The history of colonization in two of the continents, Asia 
and Africa, presents certain features of singularity. Though 
known from the most ancient times, while America was quite 
unknown till little over four centuries ago, the striking fact 
presents itself that at an early date in the nineteenth century 
the continents of North and South America had been largely 
explored, while the interior of Asia and Africa remained in 
great part untrodden. This fact in regard to Asia was due I 
to the hostile attitude of its people, which rendered it dan- { 
gerous for European travellers to attempt to penetrate its 
interior. In the case of Africa it was due to the inhospitality 
of nature, which had placed the most serious obstacles in 
the way of those who sought to enter it beyond the coast 
regions. This state of affairs continued until the latter half 
of the century, within which period there was a remarkable 
change in the aspect of affairs, both continents being pene- 
trated in all directions and their walls of isolation completely 
broken down. 

Colonization in Africa 

Africa is not only now well known, but the exploration of its 
interior has been followed by political changes of the most 
revolutionary character. It presented a virgin field for |' 
colonization, of which the land-hungry nations of Europe j 
hastened to avail themselves, dividing up the continent i 
between them until, by the end of the century, the partition | 
of Africa was practically complete. It is one of the most [ 
remarkable circumstances in history that so accessible a f 
continent remained thus so long unexplored, to serve in our • 
346 



GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 

own days as a new field for the outpouring of the nations. 
The occupation of Africa by non-Africans, indeed, began 
earher. The Arabs had held the section north of the Sahara 
for many centuries, Portugal claimed — but scarcely occupied 
—large sections east and west, and the Dutch had a thriving 
settlement in the south. But the exploration and division 
of the bulk of the continent Avaited for the nineteenth century, 
and the greater part of the work of partition took place 
within its last twenty or thirty years. 

In this work of colonization Great Britain and France stand 
foremost in energy and success. To-day the British posses- 
sions and protectorates in Africa embrace 3,446,000 square 
miles, a figure which includes Egypt and the Egyptian 
Sudan, over which a British Protectorate was formally 
proclaimed in December, 1914, the last vestige of Turkish 
suzerainty having been forfeited b}^ Turkey joining forces 
with Germany and Austria in the Great War. The claims 
of France, including a large area of the Sahara desert, are 
much larger, covering 4,300,000 square miles. Germany lays 
claim to 930,000 ; Italy, to 591,000 ; Portugal, to 800,000 ; 
Spain, to 86,000 ; the Congo Free State to 800,000 square 
miles. The parts of Africa unoccupied or unclaimed by 
Europeans are a portion of the Desert of Sahara, which no 
one wants ; Abyssinia, still independent ; Morocco, a 
French protectorate ; and Liberia, a negro state over which 
rests the shadow of protection by the United States. 

British Colonies in Africa 

Of the British colonial possessions in Africa the most import- 
ant is that in the far south, extending now from Cape ToAvn 
to Lake Tanganyika, and including an immense area replete 
with natural resources and capable of sustaining a very large 
population. This region, originally settled in the Cape Town 
region by the Dutch, was acquired by the British as a result 
of a European war. Subsequently the Boers — descendants 

347 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

of the Dutch settlers — made their way north, beyond the 
British jurisdiction, and founded the Transvaal Republic 
and the Orange Free State. The British of Cape Town at a 
later date followed them north, settling Natal, defeating the 
Zulus and acquiring new territory, and eventually coming 
into hostile contact with the Boers. 

Defeated at first by the latter, a war of conquest broke out 
in 1899, ending in 1902 with the overthrow of the Boer 
republics, after a brave and vigorous resistance on their part. 
Under the ambitious leadership of Cecil Rhodes and others 
British dominion in South Africa was extended northward 
over Rhodesia and Bechuanaland, reaching, as stated, as far 
north as Lake Tanganyika and embracing an area of over 
1,200,000 square miles. Other British colonial possessions 
in that continent include the large province of British East 
Africa, covering over 500,000 square miles inclusive of 
Somaliland, and possessions on the west coast of 490,000 
square miles area. 

We have mentioned the respective regions held by other 
European nations in Africa, France surpassing Great Britain 
in colonial area though not in population, nor in the adapt- 
ability of its soil to the white man's use. Among the French 
African possessions are included the great island of Mada- 
gascar, lying off the east coast of the continent. Mention 
should be made here of the extensive and promising Congo 
Free State, under the suzerainty of Belgium. Covering 
800,000 square miles, it comprises the populous and richly 
agricultural centre of Africa, its vast extent of navigable 
waters yielding communication through its every part. 
The occupation of the British part of Africa was not 
consummated without hostile activities. We have already 
spoken of the wars with the Boers ; of other hostile relations 
may be mentioned the expedition to Abyssinia in 1868, 
the suppression of the revolt of Arabi Pasha in 1879, and the 
series of events arising from the Mahdist outbreak in 1880. 
348 



GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 

The Mahdi Rebellion in Egypt 

The latter events call for some mention. We have told in 
a previous chapter how Britain became dominant in Egypt. 
The finances of the country became so involved that they 
were placed under the Dual Control, and the revolt of Arabi 
Pasha soon followed. This was repressed by Great Britain, 
which bombarded Alexandria, France taking no part. As 
a result the co-ordinate influence of France ended, and 
Great Britain was left as the practical ruler of Egypt, which 
position she maintained unaltered until the proclamation 
of the Protectorate in December, 1914. 

In 1881 began an important series of events. A Moham- 
medan prophet arose in the Sudan, claiming to be the Mahdi, 
a Messiah of the Mussulmans. A large body of devoted 
believers soon gathered around him, and he set up an 
independent sultanate in the desert, defeating four Egyptian 
expeditions sent against him, and capturing El Obeid, the 
chief city of Kordofan, which he made his capital in 1883. 
The effort to subdue the outbreak proved a long and arduous 
one, and was accomplished only after many years and much 
loss to the British and Egyptian forces. No time was lost 
in sending an army against the fanatical Arabs. This was 
led by an English officer known as Hicks Pasha. He fell 
into a Mahdist ambush at Kashgil in the desert, some thirty 
miles south of El Obeid, and after a desperate struggle, 
lasting three days, his force was almost completely annihi- 
lated. Hicks being the last to die. Very few of his men 
escaped to tell the tale of their defeat. 

Other expeditions of Egyptian troops sent against Osman 
Digna (' Osman the Ugly '), a lieutenant of the Mahdi, 
similarly met with defeat, and the Mahdists invested and 
besieged the towns of Sinkat and Tokar. 
To relieve these towns. Baker Pasha, a daring and able 
British leader, was sent with a force of 3500 men. Un- 
fortunately, his troops were mainly Egyptian, and the result 

349 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

of the preceding expeditions had inspired these with a more 
than wholesome fear of the Mahdists. They met a party 
of the latter, only about 1000 strong, at a point south of 
Suakim, on the Red Sea. Instantly the Egyptians broke 
into a panic of terror and were surrounded and butchered 
in a frightful slaughter. 

" Inside the square," said an eye-witness, " the state of 
affairs was almost indescribable. Cavalry, infantry, mules, 
camels, falling baggage, and dying men vv^ere crushed into 
a struggling, surging mass. The Egyptians were shrieking 
madly, hardly attempting to run away, but trying to shelter 
themselves one behind another." " The conduct of the 
Egyptians was simply disgraceful," said another officer. 
" Armed with rifle and bayonet they allowed themselves to 
be slaughtered, without an effort at self-defence, by savages 
inferior to them in numbers and armed only with spears 
and swords." 

Baker and his staff officers, seeing affairs were hopeless, 
charged the enemy and cut their way through to the 
shore, but of the total force two-thirds were left dead 
or wounded on the field. Such was the ' massacre ' of 
El Teb on February 4th, 1884, which was followed four 
days afterward by the capture of Sinkat and slaughter of 
its garrison. 

To avenge this butchery, General Graham was sent from 
Cairo with 4000 British troops. These advanced upon 
Osman and in the following month completely defeated him 
in two engagements. 

Gordon at Khartoum 

In February of the same year General Charles Gordon — the 

famous Chinese Gordon — ascended the Nile to Khartoum, 

to relieve the Egyptian garrison of that city. He failed in 

this, the Arabs of the Sudan flocking to the standard of 

the Mahdi in such multitudes that Khartoum was cut off 

350 



GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 

from all communication with the north, leaving Gordon and 
the garrison in a position of dire peril. 

An expedition led by Lord Wolseley, the hero of the Zulu 
and Ashanti Wars, was sent to their relief. It advanced in 
two sections, a desert and a river column. Two furious 
attacks were made by the Mahdists on the desert troops, 
both being repulsed with heavy loss. On reaching the river, 
they proceeded in steamers which Gordon had sent down 
the Nile to meet them. But there was unavoidable delay, 
and when the vicinity of Khartoum was reached, on January 
28th, 1885, it was learned that the town had been taken and 
Gordon killed two days before. All his men, 4000 in number, 
were killed with him. 

Suppression of the Mahdi Revolt 

After this misfortune the Arabs were left in possession for 
nearly twelve years, no other expedition being sent until 
1896, while it was not until 1898 that the Anglo-Egyptian 
forces reached the vicinity of Khartoum. They were 
commanded by Sir Herbert Kitchener, afterwards Earl 
Kitchener and Secretary of State for War. His men were 
well drilled and very different in character from those led 
by Baker Pasha. They met the Arabs at Omdurman, near 
Khartoum, and gave them a crushing defeat, more than 
15,000 of them falling, while the British loss was only about 
500. This ended the Arab resistance and the Sudan was 
restored to Egypt, fourteen years after it had been taken by 
the Mahdi. 

Brief mention of the holdings of other nations in Africa must 
suffice. Germany had, before she made the step that 
plunged the world into war, large areas in East Africa and 
South- West Africa, with smaller holdings elsewhere. The 
possessions of France extend from Algeria and Tunis south- 
ward over the Sahara and the Sudan, with holdings on 
the east and west coasts. Portugal has large, feebly held 

351 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

districts in the south- central coast region, and Italy holds 
small districts on the Red Sea and Somaliiand and the 
recently acquired Tripoli. Spain's holdings are on the coast 
of Morocco and on the borders of the Sahara. 

Colonization in Asia 

The colonizing enterprise in Asia within recent years has been 
confined to Great Britain, France, and Russia, which nations 
have gained large possessions in that great continent. Russia 
has made its way during several centuries of conquest over 
Siberia and Central Asia, until its immense possessions have 
encroached upon Persia and Afghanistan in the south and 
China in the east. At present, while the dominion of Russia 
in Europe, inclusive of Poland and Finland, comprises 
rather over 2,050,000 square miles, that in Asia is more than 
6,387,000 square miles, the total area of this colossal empire 
being more than equal in area to the entire continent of 
North America, and considerably more than twice that of 
Europe. The possessions of other nations in Asia are, with 
the exception of some small holdings on the Chinese coast 
which will be dealt with in a later chapter, in the south of 
that continent. Holland has a group of rich islands in the 
Indian Ocean, Portugal some small possessions, and France 
a large area in Indo-China, gained by invasion and conquest. 
This includes Cambodia, Cochin- China and Tonquin, won 
by hard fighting since 1862. 

Great Britain, in addition to the extensive peninsula of India, 
with the neighbouring rich island of Ceylon, has of late years 
acquired the fertile plains of Burma, now included in its 
Empire of India, the whole covering an area of nearly 
2,000,000 square miles. Its other Asiatic possessions include 
Hong-Kong, in China ; the Straits Settlements and other 
Malay states ; Borneo and Sarawak ; Aden, commanding the 
Red Sea ; and Socotra, at the entrance to the Gulf of Aden. 

352 




W 
h4 
P 
^ 

M 
u 

<; 

p^ 

I— I 

w 

H 

O 
% 

l-H 
Pi 

w 

< 

PL, 
O 

o 

»— I 
P 



GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 

The British in India 

The British control of India began with the founding of 
commercial settlements early in the seventeenth century. 
Areas of land were gradually acquired and rivalry began 
later between England and France for the control of Indian 
territory. The power of the British East India Company 
in India was largely extended both by the military operations 
of the famous Lord Clive, and by Warren Hastings, a later 
governor. 

During the nineteenth century many accessions of territory 
were made, the one threat to British dominion in the penin- 
sula being the great Sepoy rebellion, or Indian Mutiny, in 
1857, which needed all the resources of the Company to over- 
come. The most important event that succeeded was the 
taking over of the powers of government, so far exercised by 
the East India Company, and vesting them in the Crown, 
which assumed full control of the now immense holdings of the 
Company. Subsequently, in 1877, came the raising of India 
to the dignity of an empire, and the adding to the title of 
Queen Victoria the further title of Empress of India. Since 
that period the establishment of British dominion in India 
has become almost complete, extending to the Himalayas in 
the north, and over Baluchistan in the west, and Burma in the 
east. As a result India, Canada, and Australia have become 
the great trio of semi-continental British possessions, India 
being far the richest and most populous of them all. 

Colonies in America 

We have next to deal with the British colonial possessions 
in America, including the great Dominion of Canada and 
Newfoundland, and the minor holdings of British Guiana, 
British Honduras, and the several islands of' Jamaica, 
Trinidad, Barbados, the Bahamas, and the Bermudas. 
Of these Canada is the only one that calls for extended 
notice. 

z 353 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

The vast Dominion of Canada occupies the northern section 
of the western hemisphere, and covers an immense area of 
the earth's surface, surpassing that of the United States, and 
greater than that of the whole of the mainland of Europe. 
Its population, however, is not in accordance with its 
dimensions, though of late it is growing rapidly, being now 
nearly 8,000,000. The bleak and inhospitable character of 
much the greater part of its area is likely to debar it from 
ever having any other than a scanty nomad population, fur 
animals being its principal useful product. It is, however, 
always unsafe to predict. The discovery of gold in a part 
of this region, that traversed by the Klondike River, in 1896 
brought miners by the thousands to that wintry realm, and 
it would be very unwise to declare that the remainder of the 
great northern region contains no treasures for the craving 
hands of man. So far as the fertile regions of Manitoba, 
Alberta, and Saskatchewan are concerned, their great wheat- 
producing capacity has added immensely to the national 
wealth of Canada, which promises to become one of the great 
wheat-growing regions of the earth. 

First settled by the French in the seventeenth century, 
this country came under British control in 1763, as a result 
of the great struggle for dominion between the two active 
colonizing Powers in America. The outcome of this con- 
quest is the fact that Canada, like the other colonies of 
Great Britain, possesses a large alien population, in this case 
of French origin. 

Development of Canada 

At the opening of the nineteenth century the population of 
Canada was small, and its resources were only slightly 
developed. Its people did not reach the million mark until 
about 1840, though after that date the tide of immigration 
flowed thither with considerable strength and the population 
grew with some rapidity. In 1791 the original province of 
854 



GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 

Quebec had been divided into Upper and Lower Canada, a 
political separation which led to severe political conflicts, 
with the result that in 1841 the provinces were reunited. 
Upper Canada, at the opening of the eighteenth century, 
was only slightly developed, the country being a vast forest, 
without towns, without roads, and practically shut out from 
the remainder of the world. The sparse population endured 
much suffering, which, in 1788, deepened into a destructive 
famine, long remembered as a terrible visitation. But it 
began to grow with the new century ; numbers crossed the 
Niagara River from the States to the fertile lands beyond, 
immigrants crossed the water from Great Britain and France, 
Toronto was made the capital city, and the population of 
the province soon rose to 30,000 in number. Lower Canada, 
however, with its old cities of Quebec and Montreal, and 
its flourishing settlements along the St Lawrence River, 
continued the most populous section of the country, though 
its people were almost exclusively of French origin. The 
strength of the British lay in the upper province. 
In time the confederation which existed between the two 
larger provinces of Canada became unfitted to serve the 
purposes of the entire colony. The maritime provinces 
began to discuss the question of local federation, and it was 
finally proposed to unite all British North America into one 
general union. This was done in 1867, the British Parlia- 
ment passing an Act which created the ' Dominion of 
Canada.' The new confederation included Ontario (Upper 
Canada), Quebec (Lower Canada), New Brunswick, and 
Nova Scotia. Four years later Manitoba and British 
Columbia were included, and Prince Edward's Island in 
1874. Since then other additions have been made. A 
parliament was formed consisting of a Senate of life members 
chosen by the Governor- General in Council and an Assembly 
elected by the people. 

The important questions which have arisen in Canada since 

355 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

the dates above given have had largely to do with its relations 
to the United States and its people. One of the most 
troublesome of these was that concerned with the productive 
fisheries on the banks of Newfoundland and the coasts of 
Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. For years the problem 
of the rights of American fishermen in these regions excited 
controversy. 

Several partial settlements were made, and as a result of 
the Washington Treaty of 1871 the United States Govern- 
ment paid over £1,130,000 into the Canadian treasury, that 
sum being agreed upon as the value for twelve years of the 
fisheries, over and above the benefits that accrued to Canada 
through the abrogation of the Reciprocity Treaty between 
her and the United States in 1866. 

This settlement came to an end in 1885, and a special 
commission reported on the subject. Nothing more was 
done, however, and from 1887 to 1912 the matter was 
arranged by an annually renewed treaty, but at the latter 
date an agreement through The Hague Tribunal was arrived 
at between Canada, Newfoundland, and the United States. 
The discovery of gold on the Klondike River in 1896 de- 
veloped another problem, that of the true boundary between 
Alaska and Canada. At first, under the belief that the gold 
region was in Alaska, it brought a rush of American miners 
to that region. But it was soon found that the mining region 
was in Canada, and the mining laws imposed by the Canadian 
authorities were bitterly objected to by the American miners. 
The question of boundary has since been definitely settled, 
and the present boundary line marked out by a scientific 
commission. 

The industrial development of the country within recent 
years has been great. Agriculturally the development of 
the fertile wheat fields of the middle west is of the most 
promising character, while railway progress has been highly 
encouraging. The building of the Canadian Pacific Railway 
356 



GREAT BRITAIN AND HER COLONIES 

was a remarkable enterprise. In more recent times Canada 
has been approaching a position of rivalry with the United 
States in the matter of railways, a new transcontinental 
line, the Grand Trunk Pacific, having been completed in 
1914, while the Canadian Northern is rapidly progressing. 

Progress in Canada 

Railways have spread like a network over the rich agri- 
cultural territory along the southern border land of the 
Dominion, from ocean to ocean, and are now pushing into 
the deep forest land and rich mineral and agricultural regions 
of the interior and the north-west, their total length in 1914 
approaching 30,000 miles. 

These railways have been built largely under different forms 
of government aid, such as land grants, cash subsidies, loans, 
the issue of debentures, and the guarantee of bonds of 
interest. 

In manufacturing industry almost every branch of produc- 
tion is to be found, the progressive enterprise of the people 
of the Dominion being great, and a large proportion of the 
goods they need being made at home. 

Not only is the outside world largely ignorant of the im- 
portance of Canada, but many of her own people fail to 
realize the greatness of the country they possess. Its area 
of more than three and one-half millions of square miles — 
one-sixteenth of the entire land surface of the earth — is 
great enough to include an immense variety of natural 
conditions and products. This area constitutes forty per 
cent, of the far-extended British Empire, while its richness 
of soil and resources in forest and mineral wealth are as yet 
almost untouched, and its promise of future yield is immense. 
The dimensions of the Dominion guarantee a great variety 
of natural attractions. There are vast grass- covered plains, 
thousands of square miles of untouched forest lands, mul- 
titudes of lakes and rivers, great and small, and mountains 

357 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

of the wildest and grandest character, whose natural beauty 
equals that of the far-famed Alpine peaks. In fact, the 
Canadian Pacific Railway is becoming a route of pilgrimage 
for the lovers of the beautiful and sublime, its mountain 
scenery being unrivalled upon the continent. 
In several conditions the people of Canada, while preserving 
the general features of English society, are much more free 
and untrammelled. What there is of caste system in Great 
Britain has gained little footing in this new land, where 
nearly every farmer is the owner of the soil which he tills, 
and the people have a feeling of independence unknown to 
the agricultural population of European countries. There 
has been great progress also in many social questions. The 
liquor traffic, for instance, is subject to the local option 
restriction ; religious liberty prevails ; education is prac- 
tically free and unsectarian ; the franchise is enjoyed by all 
citizens ; members of the parliament have for many years 
been paid for their services ; and though the executive 
department of the government is under the control of a 
Governor- General appointed by the Crown, the laws of 
Canada are made by its own statesmen, and a state of 
practical independence prevails. Recognizing this, and 
respecting the liberty-loving spirit of the people, Great 
Britain is chary of interfering with any question of Canadian 
policy, or in any sense of attempting to limit the freedom of 
her great transatlantic colony. 



358 



CHAPTER XXII 

THE OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 

Development of World -Power in the East 

Warlike Invasions of China : Commodore Perry and 
his Treaty : Japan''s Rapid Progress : Origin of the 
Chino- Japanese War : The Position of Korea : Li 
Hung Chang and the Empress : How Japan began 
War : The War on the Sea : Conclusion of the War : 
Europe invades China : China's Wonderful Pro- 
gress : The Boxer Outbreak : Russian Designs on 
Manchuria : Japan begins War on Russia : The 
Ar7nies meet : Port Arthur taken : Russian Fleet 
defeated : China becomes a Republic 
ASIA, the greatest of the continents and the seat of the 
earhest civihzations, yields us the most remarkable pheno- 
menon in the history of mankind. In remote ages, while 
Europe lay plunged in the deepest barbarism, certain sections 
of Asia were marked by surprising activity in thought and 
progress. In three far-separated regions — China, India, and 
Babylonia — and in a fourth on the borders of Asia— Egypt- 
civilization rose and flourished for ages, while the savage and 
the barbarian roamed over all other regions of the earth. 
A still more extraordinary fact is, that during the more 
recent era, that of European civilization, Asia rested in the 
most sluggish conservatism, sleeping while Europe and 
America were actively moving, content with its ancient 
knowledge while the people of the West were pursuing new 
learning into its most secret lurking-places. 
And this conservatism seemed an almost immovable one. 
For a century England has been pouring new thought and 
new enterprise into India, yet the Hindus cling stubbornly 
to their remotely ancient beliefs and customs, though they 
show some signs of a political awakening. For over half 
a century Europe has been hammering upon the gates of 
China, but not until recently did this sleeping nation show 

359 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

any signs of waking to the fact that the world was moving 
around it. As regards the other early civilizations — Baby- 
lonia and Egypt — they long ago were utterly swamped under 
the tide of Tartar and Turkish barbarism and exist only in 
their ruins. Persia, once a great and flourishing empire, like- 
wise sank under the flood of Arabian and Turkish invasion, 
and to-day seems in imminent danger of disintegration. Such 
was the Asia upon which the nineteenth century dawned, 
and such it remains in some measure to-day, though in parts 
of its vast area western civilization has gained a foothold. 
This is especially the case with the island empire of Japan, 
the people of which, though they are closely allied in race to 
those of China, have displayed a far greater progressiveness 
and a marked readiness to avail themselves of the resources 
of modern civilization. The development of Japan has 
taken place within the comparatively brief period since 1868. 
Previous to that time it was as impervious to western 
influences as China continued until a later date. They were 
both closed nations, prohibiting the entrance of modern 
ideas and peoples, proud of their own form of civilization 
and their own institutions, and sternly resolved to keep out 
the disturbing influences of the restless West. As a result, 
they remained locked against the new civilization until 
after the mid-nineteenth century, and China's disposition 
to avail itself of the results of modern invention was not 
manifested until the century was near its end. 

Warlike Ii^vasions of China 

China, with its estimated population of 402,000,000, attained 
to a considerable measure of civilization at a very remote 
period, but from the commencement of the Christian era 
until very recently made almost no progress, being content 
to retain its old ideas, methods, and institutions, which its 
people looked upon as far superior to those of the western 
nations. Great Britain gained a foothold in China as early 
360 



OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 

as the seventeenth century, but the persistent refusal of 
the emperor and government of China to recognize in any 
way the ambassadors and envoys together with the merchants 
of Great Britain, led at last to the so-called ' Opium War ' 
of 1840. This name arose from the fact that one of the 
indirect causes that led up to it was the destruction of 
some one million and a quarter pounds' worth of opium, 
the property of the British Government, by the Chinese 
authorities. 

In the war China was defeated and one excellent result 
was that China opened a much greater degree of intercourse 
with the world, five ports being made free to the world's 
commerce and Hong-Kong ceded to Great Britain. In 
1856 an arbitrary act of the Chinese authorities at Canton, 
in forcibly boarding a British vessel in the Canton River, 
led to a new war, in which the French joined the British 
and the allies gained fresh concessions from China. In 
1859 the war was renewed, and Peking was occupied by the 
British and French forces in 1860, the emperor's summer 
palace being destroyed. 

These wars had their effect in largely breaking down the 
Chinese wall of seclusion and opening the empire more fully 
to foreign trade and intercourse, and also in compelling the 
emperor to receive foreign ambassadors at his court in 
Peking. In this the United States was among the most 
successful of the nations, from the fact that it had always 
maintained friendly relations with China. In 1876 a short 
railway was laid, and in 1877 a telegraph Hne was established. 
During the remainder of the century the telegraph service 
was widely extended, but the building of railways was 
strongly opposed by the government, and not until the 
century had reached its end did the Chinese awaken to the 
importance of this method of transportation. To-day there 
are over 6000 miles of railway open in China, exclusive 
of the Manchurian lines, and over 2000 more in course of 

361 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

construction. Steam traffic was admitted to their rivers 
many years ago, and as early as the 'seventies China f 
purchased ironclads in Europe. 

Commodore Perry and his Treaty 

The isolation of Japan was maintained longer than that of 
China, trade with that country being of less importance, and 
foreign nations knowing and caring less about it. The 
United States has the credit of breaking down its long and 
stubborn seclusion and setting in train the remarkably rapid 
development of the island empire. In 1854 Commodore 
Perry appeared with an American fleet in the bay of Yeddo, 
and, by a show of force and a determination not to be 
rebuffed, he induced the authorities to make a treaty of ? 
commercial intercourse with the United States. Other 
nations quickly demanded similar privileges, and Japan's 
obstinate resistance to the foreigner was at an end. 
The result of this was revolutionary in Japan, For centuries 
the Shogun, or Tycoon, the principal military noble, had been 
dominant in the empire, and the Mikado, the true emperor, 
relegated to a position of obscurity. But the entrance of 
foreigners disturbed conditions so greatly — by developing 
parties for and against seclusion — that the Mikado was 
enabled to regain his long-lost power, and in 1868 the 
ancient form of government was restored, the nobles being 
relegated to their original rank and their semi-feudal system 
overthrown. 

Japan's Rapid Progress 

The Japanese quickly began to show a striking activity in 
the acceptance of the results of western civilization, alike in f 
regard to objects of commerce, inventions, and industries, 
and to political organization. The latter advanced so rapidly 
that in 1889 the old despotic government was, by the volun- 
tary act of the emperor, set aside and a limited monarchy 
362 



OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 

established, the country being given a constitution and a 
legislature (founded on the German, not the English, model, 
the ministers being directly responsible to the Emperor, 
not to Parliament), with universal suffrage for all men over 
twenty-five. This act is of remarkable interest, it being 
doubtful if history records any similar instance of a monarch 
decreasing his authority without appeal or pressure from 
his people. It indicates a liberal spirit that could hardly 
have been looked for in a nation that had so recently opened 
its doors. It was, however, probably the result of a previous 
compact with the nobles who aided the Mikado to regain 
his throne. To-day, Japan differs little from the nations of 
Europe and America in its institutions and industries, and 
from being among the most backward, has taken its place 
among the most advanced nations of the world. , 
The Japanese army has been organized upon the European 
system, and armed with the most modern style of weapons, 
the German method of drill and organization being adopted. 
Its navy consists of about two hundred war vessels, built 
largely in the dockyards of Europe and America, or captured 
in its two recent wars, while a number of more powerful 
ships are in process of building. Railways have been widely 
extended ; telegraphs run everywhere ; education is in an 
advancing stage of development, embracing an imperial 
university at Tokio, and institutions in which foreign lan- 
guages and science are taught ; and in a hundred ways 
Japan is progressing at a rate which is one of the greatest 
marvels of the twentieth century. This is particularly 
notable in view of the longer adherence maintained by 
the neighbouring empire of China to its old customs, and the 
slowness with which it yielded to the influx of new ideas. 

Origin of the Chino-Japanese War 

As a result of this difference in progress between the two 
nations we have to describe a remarkable event, one of the 

363 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

most striking evidences that could be given of the practical 
advantage of modern civilization. Near the end of the 
century war broke out between China and Japan, and there 
was shown to the world the singular spectacle of a nation 
of 40,000,000 people, armed with modern implements of 
war, attacking a nation of 300,000,000 — equally brave, but 
with its army organized on an ancient system — and defeating 
it as quickly and completely as Germany defeated France 
in the Franco-Prussian War. This war, which represents a 
completely new condition of affairs in the continent of Asia, 
is of sufficient interest and importance to speak of at some h 
length. , 

Between China and Japan lay the kingdom of Korea, h 
separated by rivers from the former and by a strait of the ! 
ocean from the latter, and claimed as a vassal state by 1 
both, yet preserving its independence as a state against the L 
pair. Japan invaded this country at two different periods •: 
in the past, but failed to conquer it. China has often 
invaded it, with the same result. Thus it remained prac- 
tically independent until near the end of the nineteenth i 
century, when the question of predominance in it became 
a cause of war between the two rival empires, an additional i 
reason for nervousness on the part of Japan being fear lest j 
it should fall into the hands of Russia. 

Korea long pursued the same policy as China and Japan, 
locking its ports against foreigners so closely that it became 
known as the Hermit Nation. But it was forced to give 
way, like its neighbours. The opening of Korea was due to ; 
Japan. In 1876 the Japanese did to this secluded kingdom 
what Commodore Perry had done to Japan twenty-two years 
before. They sent a fleet to Seoul, the Korean capital, and 
by threat of war forced the government to open to trade 
the port of Fusan. In 1880 Chemulpo was made an open 
port. Later on the United States sent a fleet there which 
obtained similar privileges. Soon afterward most of the 
364 



I OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 

nations of Europe were admitted to trade, and the seclusion 
of the Hermit Nation was at an end. Less than ten years 
had sufficed to break down an isolation which had lasted 
for centuries. In less than twenty years after— in the year 
1899— an electric tramway was put in operation in the 
streets of Seoul — a remarkable evidence of the great change 
in Korean policy. 

The Position of Korea 

Korea was no sooner opened to foreign intercourse than 
China and Japan became rivals for influence in that country 
— a rivalry in which Japan showed itself the more active. 
The Koreans became divided into two factions, a progressive 
one that favoured Japan, and a conservative one that 
favoured China. Japanese and Chinese soldiers were landed 
upon its soil, and the Chinese aided their party, which was 
in ascendancy among the Koreans, to drive out the Japanese 
troops. War was threatened, but it was averted by a 
treaty in 1885 under which both nations agreed to withdraw 
their troops and to send no officers to drill the Korean 
soldiers. 

The war, thus for the time averted, came nine years after- 
ward, in consequence of an insurrection in Korea. The 
people of that country were discontented. They were 
oppressed with taxes and by tyranny, and in 1894 the 
followers of a new religious sect broke out in open revolt. 
Their numbers rapidly increased until they were 20,000 
strong, and they defeated the government troops, captured 
a provincial city, and put the capital itself in danger. The 
Min (or Chinese) faction was then at the head of affairs in 
the kingdom and called for aid from China, which responded 
by sending some two thousand troops and a number of war 
vessels to Korea. China, in accordance with the terms of 
a previous treaty, notified Japan of this step, and Japan 
responded by landing a similar number of troops. 

365 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

Disputes followed. Both parties claimed to be suzerain of 
Korea and refused to withdraw their troops ; and the 
Japanese advanced on Seoul, the capital, drove out the 
officials and took possession of the palace and the king, in 
the belief that it would be only by such forceful methods 
that order would ever be restored in Korea and permanent 
reform inaugurated. A new government, made up of the 
party that favoured Japan, was organized, and a revolution 
was accomplished in a day. The new authorities declared 
that the Chinese were intruders and requested the aid of 
the Japanese to expel them. War was close at hand. 

Li Hung Chang and the Empress 

China was at that time under the leadership of a statesman 
of marked ability, the famous Li Hung Chang, who, from 
being governor of Kiang-su in the early 'sixties, had risen 
to be the viceroy of Tientsin, commander-in-chief of the 
army, and chief minister of the empire. At the head of the 
empire was a woman, the dowager Empress Tsu Tsi, who 
had usurped the power of the young emperor and ruled the 
state. It was to these two masterful personages that the war 
was due. The dowager empress, blindly ignorant of the 
power of the Japanese, decided that these ' insolent pigmies ' 
deserved to be chastised. Li, her right-hand man, was of 
the same opinion. At the last moment, indeed, doubts 
began to assail his mind, into which came a dim idea that 
the army and navy of China were not in shape to meet the 
forces of Japan. But the empress was resolute. Her 
sixtieth birthday was at hand and she proposed to celebrate 
it magnificently ; and what better decorations could she 
display than the captured banners of these insolent islanders ? 
So it was decided to present a bold front, and, instead of the 
troops of China being removed, reinforcements were sent to 
the force in Korea. 

366 



OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 

How Japan began War 

There followed a startling event. On July 25th three 
Japanese men-of-war, cruising in the Yellow Sea, came in 
sight of a transport loaded with Chinese troops and convoyed 
by two ships of the Chinese navy. The Japanese admiral did 
not know of the seizure of Seoul by the land forces, but he 
took it to be his duty to prevent Chinese troops from reaching 
Korea, so he at once attacked the warships of the enemy, 
with such effect that they were quickly put to flight. Then 
he sent orders to the transport that it should put about and 
follow his ships. 

This the Chinese generals refused to do. They trusted to 
the fact that they were on a chartered British vessel and that 
the British flag flew over their heads. The daring Japanese 
admiral troubled his soul little about this foreign standard, 
but at once opened fire on the transport, and with such effect 
that in half an hour it went to the bottom, carrying with it 
fifteen hundred men. Only about one hundred and seventy 
escaped. 

On the same day that the transport, the Kowshing, was sunk, 
the Japanese advanced to the attack of Asan, and soon 
drove the strong Chinese garrison from the place. The 
latter withdrew to Ping Yang, a strongly fortified position 
some 170 miles to the north, where they entrenched them- 
selves and awaited the rapidly advancing enemy. In 
September the Japanese surrounded the city and on the 15th 
took it by storm. The Chinese, in the attempt to escape 
to the north, were fallen upon by the enemy, who was already 
in position, and lost 1500 men before the main body of the 
troops from Ping Yang could escape across the Yalu River. 

The War on the Sea 

Meanwhile events had been happening at sea, and two days 
after the battle of Ping Yang the Chinese suffered another 
overwhelming defeat off the mouth of the Yalu. On the 

367 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

morning of the 17th, Admiral Ito, with the Japanese fleet, 
sighted the Chinese near the island of Hai-Yang. The latter 
were under the command of Admiral Ting, and so far as 
numbers and strength of ships was concerned the fleets 
were very equally matched. But the Chinese admiral was 
far outclassed by the Japanese in tactics, and at the close 
of the three hours' battle the latter were left victors with 
their whole fleet intact. Two Japanese vessels were badly 
damaged, however, but the Chinese lost five ships, four sunk 
and one run aground. The remainder of the vanquished 
fleet withdrew to Port Arthur, and left the coast free for the 
landing of a Japanese force, which joined hands with the main 
army and pushed forward into Manchuria across the Yalu 
River. 

The war on land now degenerated into successive flights of 
the Chinese across the Liao-Tung peninsula before the 
victorious enemy, till on November 21st the Japanese, 
having invested the fortress, attacked Port Arthur and took 
it after a bombardment of twenty-four hours. 
At this point the Chinese began to make half-hearted over- 
tures for peacCj but they came to nothing, and the war went 
on till, early in February, 1895, the Japanese were before 
Wei-hai-wei, the last fortress remaining in the hands of 
their adversaries. From February 4th to 9th, a series of 
naval engagements took place here, and on the latter date 
Admiral Ting, having lost heavily in ships and men, and 
realizing that the position was hopeless, surrendered the 
fortress and committed suicide. 

Conclusion of the War 

China was now in a perilous position. Its fleet was lost, its 

coast strongholds of Port Arthur and Wei-hai-wei were 

held by the enemy, and its capital was in imminent danger. 

A continuation of the war promised to bring about the 

complete conquest of the Chinese empire, and Li Hung Chang, 

368 




<; 

O 

:^ 

H 

^ S 

a, 
O ^ 
^ 8 

Q '^ 

^ I 
< I 



OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 

who had been degraded from his official rank in consequence 
of the disasters to the army, was now restored to all his 
honours and sent to Japan to sue for peace. In the treaty 
that followed China was compelled to acknowledge the inde- 
pendence of Korea, to cede to Japan the island of Formosa 
and the Pescadores group, and that part of Manchuria occu- 
pied by the Japanese army, including Port Arthur, also to pay 
an indemnity of 200,000,000 taels (about £40,000,000) and 
open four new treaty ports. This treaty was not fully 
carried out. The German, Russian, and French ministers 
strongly advised Japan to give up the clause stipulating for 
the cession of Chinese territory ; Japan unwillingly agreed, 
receiving a further 30,000,000 taels. To this forced relin- 
quishment of the fruits of her victory may, in large measure, 
be attributed the participation of Japan in the Great War 
twenty years later. 

Europe invades China 

The first result, as regards Europe, of the Chino-Japanese 
War was a secret convention between China and Russia by 
which it was probably agreed that in return for rights to 
construct railways in Manchuria Russia promised China 
assistance in the event of any further attack by Japan. 
The convention has never been made public, but what is 
known for certain is that the weak and defenceless state of 
the Flowery Kingdom, as revealed by the victories of Japan, 
was eagerly seized upon by Germany, who now saw a spot 
on the surface of the earth where she might at last attain 
her long-wished-for ' place in the sun.' 

Her opportunity came toward the close of 1897, when two 
of her missionaries were murdered in cold blood in the 
province of Shantung. As reparation for this crime Germany 
demanded, and obtained, a ninety-nine years' lease of 
Kiao-chau and Tsingtau, with the surrounding territory 
for about thirty-one miles, an indemnity of 200,000 taels, 

2 a 369 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

and the payment of all the German expenses in connection 
with the affair. 

The day on which the bargain was concluded was a great 
day for Germany. Kiao-chau was her first — her only — 
foothold on the continent of Asia, and she set about im- 
proving her new acquisition so quickly and so well that ere 
long the old Chinese town was thoroughly German, with a 
German population, German shops and dockyards, and one 
of the finest German forts in existence. So highly has 
Kiao-chau been regarded by her possessors that the Kaiser 
is said to have remarked that he would rather see the 
Russians in Berlin than the Japanese in this one Asiatic 
protectorate. To anticipate events by some years we may 
here remark that it was on November 8th, 1914, that the 
Kaiser saw the Japanese in Kiao-chau ; and if it were 
allowed us to anticipate still further we would say that 
perhaps the Kaiser's alternative choice is not impossible of 
fulfilment. 

But to return to 1898. Germany's action in the Far East 
was viewed with no easy feelings in the Chancelleries of 
Europe, and ere long China found herself bombarded with 
requests for concessions from the other Great Powers. 
Russia was the first in the field, and obtained Port Arthur 
on the same terms as Germany had been granted Kiao-chau. 
This cession had far-reaching consequences : it was one of ij 
the causes of the Russo-Japanese War that followed a few \l 
years later, for to the Japanese this was a particularly hard ||j 
blow, seeing that so shortly before she had, at the request )i 
of Europe, given up her claims on the place, the reason li' 
advanced being that the possession of Port Arthur would ij 
dominate Peking, and so give any Power holding it undue i 
influence over China. Russia's lease was not, as we shall i 
see, of long duration, for at the close of the war with Japan, I ' 
in 1905, Port Arthur became Japanese territory by the award i 
of the Treaty of Portsmouth. 
370 



OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 

Russia having been satisfied, China did not refuse Great 
Britain when she asked that she might hold Wei-hai-wei, on 
the opposite coast of the Gulf of Pechili, for so long as Russia 
held Port Arthur ; and shortly after she was also granted some 
200 square miles of territory surrounding Kowloon, on the 
mainland opposite Hong-Kong, in the south of China. 
Farther south still, in the Lien-Chow peninsula, France 
obtained a ninety-nine years' lease of Kwang-Chow-Wan, 
which still forms a part of French Indo-China ; but when, 
a few months later, Italy too sent a request for a concession 
China at last put her foot down and refused to part with 
any more territory. 

China's Wonderful Progress 

Meanwhile within the empire itself revolutionary changes 
were taking place, the dowager empress having first deprived 
the emperor of all power and then enforced his abdication. 
Li Hung Chang and the other progressive statesmen of the 
empire, who had long been convinced that the only hope of 
China lay in its being thrown open to Western science and 
art, found themselves able to carry out their plans, the 
conservative opposition having seriously broken down. The 
result of this was seen in a dozen directions. Railways, 
long almost completely forbidden, gained free ' right of way,' 
and promised in the near future to traverse the country far 
and wide. Steamers ploughed their way for a thousand 
miles up the Yang-tse-kiang ; engineers became busy 
exploiting the coal and iron mines of the Flowery Kingdom ; 
great factories, equipped with the best modern machinery, 
sprang up in the foreign settlements ; foreign books began 
to be translated and read ; and the empress even went so 
far as to receive foreign ambassadors in public audience 
and on a footing of outward equality in the ' forbidden 
city ' of Peking, long the sacredly secluded centre of an 
empire locked against the outer world. 

371 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

But this increase of European interference in China, with in- 
dications of a possible intention to dismember that ancient 
empire and divide its fragments among the land-hungry 
nations of the West, was viewed in China with dread and 
indignation, the feeling of hostility extending to the work of 
the missionaries, who were probably regarded by many as 
agents in the movement of invasion. 

The Boxer Outbreak 

The hostile sentiment thus developed was indicated early 
in 1900 by an outbreak of a Chinese secret society known by 
a name signified in English by the word ' Boxers.' These 
ultra-patriots organized an anti-missionary crusade in several 
provinces of North China in which many missionaries and 
native Christians were killed. The movement extended 
from the missionary settlements to include the whole foreign 
population of China, and was evidently encouraged by the 
dowager empress and her advisers. 

As a result the outbreak spread to Peking, where Baron von 
Ketteler, the German minister, was killed, several of the 
legation buildings were destroyed, and more than two hun- 
dred refugees were besieged within the walls of the British 
legation. The danger to which the representatives of the 
foreign Powers and their assistants and families were 
exposed aroused Europe and America, and as the Chinese 
Government took no steps to allay the outbreak, a relief 
expedition was organized, in which British, United States, 
French, German, Russian, and Japanese forces took 
part. 

The fleet of the allies bombarded and destroyed the Taku 
forts, and heavy fighting took place at Tien-tsin, Pie-tsang, 
and Yang-tsun. The military expedition reached Peking 
and rescued the besieged on August 14th, 1900, the empress 
and her court fleeing from the capital. A peace treaty was 
signed on September 7th, 1901, one of the conditions of which 
372 



OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 

was that China should pay an indemnity of £65,750,000 to 
the foreign Powers. 

This event, significant of the latent and active hostilities 
between the East and the West, was followed by a much 
greater one in 1904—5, when Japan had the hardihood to 
engage in war with the great European empire of Russia 
and the unlooked-for ability and good fortune to defeat its 
powerful antagonist. 

Russian Designs on Manchuria 

The Russo-Japanese War, which takes its place among the 
great wars of modern times, must be dealt with here, though 
briefly, for it belongs to European history, partly owing to the 
fact that a European country was engaged in it, and partly 
because of the right that Japan then earned to have her say 
in the affairs of nations. It arose from the encroachments 
of Russia in the Chinese province of Manchuria, and fears on 
the part of Japan that the scope of Russian designs might 
include the invasion and conquest of that country. 
As already stated, Russia secured a lease of Port Arthur, 
at the southern extremity of Manchuria, from China in 1898. 
Subsequently the Siberian Railway was extended southward 
from Harbin to this place, the harbour was deepened, and 
building operations were begun at a new town named Dalny, 
which was to be made Asia's greatest port. The line of 
the railway was strongly guarded with Russian troops. 
These movements of Russia excited suspicion in Great 
Britain and Japan, which countries so strongly opposed the 
military occupation by Russia of Chinese territory that in 
1901 Russia agreed to withdraw her troops within the 
following year, to restore the railway to China, and sub- 
sequently to give up all occupation of Chinese territory. 
Of these agreements the first alone was kept, and that only 
temporarily. In 1903 Japan, having in the previous year 
entered into an alliance with Great Britain, proposed an 

373 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

agreement with Russia to the effect that both parties should 
respect the integrity of China and Korea, while the interest 
of Japan in Korea and that of Russia in Manchuria should 
be recognized. The refusal of Russia to accept this pro- 
position overcame the patience of Japan, whose rulers saw 
clearly that Russia had no intention of withdrawing from 
the country occupied or of hampering her future designs 
with agreements. In fact Japan's own independence seemed 
threatened. 

Japan begins War on Russia 

The result was in consonance with the Japanese character. 
In February, 1904, Japan withdrew her minister from the 
Russian capital, and three days later, without the formality 
of a declaration of war, attacked the Russian fleets at Che- 
mulpo and Port Arthur. The result was the sinking of two 
Russian ships in Chemulpo harbour, and the disabling of a 
number of vessels at Port Arthur. 

Troops were landed at the same time. Seoul, the capital of 
Korea, was occupied, and an army marched north to Ping- 
Yang. The first land engagement took place on the Yalu 
on April 30th, the Japanese forces under General Kuroki 
attacking and defeating the Russians at that point, and 
making a rapid advance into Manchuria. 
Meanwhile Admiral Togo had been busy at Port Arthur. 
On April 13th he sent boats inshore to plant mines. Mak- 
harov, the Russian admiral, followed these boats out until 
he found Togo awaiting him with a fleet too strong for him 
to attack. On his return his flag-ship, the Petropavlovsk, 
struck one of the mines and went down with her crew of 600 
and Makharov himself. The smaller ships reached harbour 
in bad shape after their experience of Togo's big guns. On 
August 10th, the Port Arthur fleet was again roughly handled 
by the Japanese, and some days later a Vladivostock squad- 
ron, steaming southward to reinforce it, was met and defeated. 
374 



OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 

This ended the naval warfare for that period, all the ships which 
Russia had on the Pacific being destroyed or seriously injured. 

The Armies meet 

On land the Japanese made successful movements to the 
north and south. An army under General Oku landed in 
the Liao-tung peninsula early in May, cut the railway to 
Port Arthur, and captured Kin-chau, nearly forty miles 
from that port. There followed a terrible struggle on the 
heights of Nan-shan, ending in the repulse of the Russian 
garrison, with a loss of eighty guns. This success gave the 
Japanese control of Dalny, which formed for them a new 
base. General Nogi soon after landed with a strong force 
and took command of the operations against Port Arthur. 
The northern army met with similar success, General Kuroki 
fighting his way to the vicinity of Liao-yang, where he soon 
had the support of General Nodzu, who had landed an army 
in May. Oku, marching north from the peninsula, also 
supported him, the three generals forcing Kuropatkin, the 
Russian commander-in-chief, back upon his base. Marshal 
Oyama, a veteran of former wars, was at this time made 
commander-in-chief of the Japanese armies. 
Liao-yang became the seat of one of the greatest battles of 
the war ; it lasted seven days, and the dead and wounded 
amounted to over 40,000. It ended in the retreat of Kuro- 
patkin's army, who fell back upon the line of defences cover- 
ing Mukden, the Manchurian capital. Here he was again 
attacked by Kuroki, who captured the key of the Russian 
position on the 1st of September, and held it until re- 
inforcements arrived. 

For a month the armies faced each other south of Mukden, 
the period of rest ending in a general advance of the Russian 
army, which had been largely reinforced. In the battle 
that followed the Russians lost heavily but failed to break 
the Japanese lines, and after a fortnight of hard fighting 

375 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

both sides desisted from active hostilities, holding their 
positions with little change. 

Port Arthur taken 

Meanwhile Port Arthur had become closely invested. One 
by one the hills surrounding the harbour were taken by the 
Japanese, after stubborn resistance. Big siege guns were 
dragged up and began to batter the town and the ships. 
On August 19th, General Stoessel, commander at Port 
Arthur, having refused to surrender, a grand assault was 
ordered by Nogi. For five days the assault continued, but 
it proved unsuccessful ; the assailants lost 14,000 men, and 
buildings and ships suffered severely. Finally tunnels were 
cut through the solid rock, and on December 20th the 
principal stronghold to the east was carried by storm. Other 
forts were soon taken, and on January 1st, 1905, Port Arthur 
was surrendered, the Japanese obtaining 25,000 prisoners, 
59 forts, about 550 guns, and other munitions. The fleet 
captured consisted of four damaged battleships, two damaged 
cruisers, and a considerable number of smaller craft. The 
Russian losses in killed and wounded during the siege 
amounted to over 28,000 men, while those of the Japanese 
came near the tremendous total of 60,000, The capture, 
however, set free 100,000 men, who were quickly hurried off 
to reinforce Marshal Oyama. 

We left the armies facing each other at Mukden in late 
September. They remained there until February, 1905, 
without again coming into contact, and no decisive action 
took place until March. Kuropatkin's force had meanwhile 
been largely reinforced, through the difficult aid of the one- 
tracked Siberian railway, and was now divided into three 
armies of approximately 150,000 men each. Oyama now had 
500,000 men under his command ; these consisted of the 
armies under Kuroki, Nodzu, and Oku, and the force of Nogi 
released from before Port Arthur. 
376 



OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 

General Grippenberg had command of one of the Russian 
armies, and on January 25th took position on the left bank 
of the Hun-ho River. Here, in the month following, he 
lost 10,000 of his men, and then resigned his post, declaring 
that his chief had not properly supported him. On January 
19th, a Japanese advance in force began, attacking with 
energy and forcing Kuropatkin to withdraw his centre and 
left behind the line of the Hun-ho. Here he fiercely attacked 
Oku and Nogi, for the time checking their advance. But 
farther along the line the Russians fell into difficulties and 
it became necessary to retreat, leaving Mukden to the enemy. 
There were no further engagements of importance between 
the armies, though they remained face to face for months 
in a long line south of Harbin. Kuropatkin during this 
time was relieved from command, Linievitch being appointed 
to succeed him. The remaining conflict of the war was a 
nava,l one, of remarkable character. 

Russian Fleet defeated 

Russia, finding its Pacific fleet put out of commission, and 
quite unable to face the doughty Togo, had dispatched a 
second fleet from the Baltic, comprising nearly forty vessels 
in aU. These, after nearly causing complications with 
Great Britain through opening fire one dark night on some 
harmless British fishing-smacks in the North Sea, made 
their way through the Suez Canal and Indian Ocean and 
moved upward through the Chinese and Japanese Seas, find- 
ing themselves on May 27, 1905, in the strait of Tsushima, 
between Korea and Japan. Hitherto not a hostile vessel 
had been seen. Togo had held his fleet in ambush, while 
keeping scouts on the look-out for the Russians. 
Suddenly the Russians found themselves surrounded by 
the enemy. The attack was furious and irresistible ; the 
defence weak and ineffective. Night was at hand, but 
before it came five Russian warships had gone to the bottom. 

377 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

A torpedo attack was made during the night and the general 
engagement resumed next morning. When a halt was 
called, Admiral Togo had sunk, disabled, or captured eight 
battleships, nine cruisers, three coast-defence ships, and a 
large number of other craft, the great Russian fleet being 
practically a total loss, while Togo had lost only three 
torpedo boats and 650 men. The losses in men by the 
Russians were 4000 killed and 7300 prisoners taken. 
Altogether it was a naval victory which for completeness 
has rarely been equalled in history. 

Russia, beaten on land and sea, was by this time ready to 
give up the struggle, and at once accepted President Roose- 
velt's suggestion to hold a peace convention in the United 
States. The terms of the treaty were very favourable to 
Russia, especially in the clause that excused her from paying 
any indemnity ; but the resources of Japan had been strained 
to the utmost, and that Power felt little inclined to put 
obstacles in the way. The island of Sakhalin was divided 
between them, both armies evacuated Manchuria, leaving it 
to the Chinese, and Port Arthur and Dalny were transferred 
to Japan. Shortly after the conclusion of peace Japan 
entered into an arrangement with China by which fifteen 
towns in Manchuria were declared open for foreign residence 
and trade. 

Yet though Japan received no indemnity and little in the 
way of material acquisitions of any kind, she came out of 
the war with a prestige that no one was likely to question, 
and has since ranked among the Great Powers of the world. 
And she added considerably to her territory in 1910 by the 
annexation of Korea, to which there was no one to question 
her right. 

China becomes a Republic 

While Japan was manifesting this progress in the arts 

of war, China was making as great a progress in the arts of 

378 



OPEN DOOR IN CHINA AND JAPAN 

peace. The building of railways, telegraphs, modern fac- 
tories, and the adoption of other western innovations 
proceeded apace, modern literature and systems of education 
were introduced, and the old competitive examinations for 
office, in the Confucian literature and philosophy, were 
replaced by examinations in modern science and general 
knowledge. Yet most surprising of all was the great political 
revolution which converted an autocratic empire which had 
existed for four or five thousand years into a modern con- 
stitutional republic of advanced type. This is surely the 
most surprising political overturn that history presents. 
For many years a spirit of opposition to the Manchu empire 
had existed and had led more than once to rebelHons of 
great scope. The success of Japan in war was followed in 
China by a revolutionary movement whose first demand was 
for a constitutional government, this leading, on September 
20th, 1907, to an imperial decree outlining a plan for a National 
Assembly. On July 22nd, 1908, another decree provided for 
Provincial Assemblies to serve as a basis for a future parlia- 
ment, and a few weeks later the government promised to 
introduce a parliamentary system within nine years. 
The idea of such a government spread rapidly throughout 
the country, and the demand arose for an immediate par- 
liament. In October, 1910, a National Assembly was 
opened by the regent, but the revolutionary sentiment grew, 
and in October, 1911, a rebelhous movement took place at 
Wuchang which rapidly spread, the rebels declaring that 
the Manchu dynasty must be overthrown. 
Soon the movement became so threatening that the emperor 
issued a decree appeahng to the mercy of the people, and 
abjectly acknowledged that the government had done wrong 
in many particulars. Yuan Shih-kai, a prominent revolu- 
tionary statesman, was made Prime Minister, but it had 
become too late to check the movement, and at the end of 
1911 a republic was announced at Nanking, under the 

.•?79 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

provisional presidency of Dr. Sun Yat-sen, a student of 
modern institutions in Europe and America. The abdication 
of the emperor quickly followed, in February, 1912, ending 
a Manchu dynasty which had held the throne for 267 years. 
Yuan Shih-kai was later chosen as president for a term of 
five years. 

The republic has a parliament of its own ; and besides the 
president, a Cabinet of ten ministers, and all the official 
furniture of a republican government. There is only needed 
an education of the people into the principles of free govern- 
ment ' of the people, for the people, and by the people ' to 
complete the most remarkable political revolution the world 
has yet known. 

It remains to be seen whether China will continue unchecked 
her political development upon such democratic lines, or 
whether autocracy, which must still have powerful adherents 
in an ancient empire, will once more obtain for a time some 
measure of its old ascendancy. 



380 



CHAPTER XXIII 

TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 

Checking the Dominion of the Turk in Europe 

The Story of Serbia : Turkey in Europe : The 

Bulgarian Atrocities : The Defence of Plevna : The 

Congress of Berlin : Hostile Sentiments in the 

Balkans : Incitement to War : Fighting begins : 

The Advance on Adrianople : Victories of the Allies : 

The Bulgarian Successes : Steps toward Peace : The 

War resumed : Siege of Scutari : Treaty of Peace : 

Albania : War between the Allies : The Final 

Settlement 

IN the south-east of Europe Ues a group of minor kingdoms, 

of Httle importance in size, but of great importance in the 

progress of recent events. Their sudden uprising in 1912, 

their conquest of nearly the whole existing remnant of 

Turkey in Europe, and the subsequent struggle between 

them for the spoils of the conquest brought them swiftly 

into prominence. And they are specially important from 

the fact that Serbia, one of this group of states, was the 

ostensible — though, as we have seen, not the actual — cause 

of the Great European War of 1914. 

These, known as the Balkan States, from their being traversed 
by the Balkan range of mountains, comprise the kingdoms 
of Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro, and Albania, the indepen- 
dence of which was declared at the Conference held in London 
in May, 1913, at the close of the first of the two recent Balkan 
wars. Roumania is sometimes included in the Balkan States, 
and Greece is an outlying member of the group. 

The Story of Serbia 

Of these varied states Serbia is of special interest both from 
its immediate relation to the European contest and on 
account of its ancient history. Small though it is to-day, 
it was once an extensive, if ill-knit, empire. Under its 

381 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

emperor, Stevan Doushan (1331-55), it included the whole f 
of Macedonia, Albania, Thessaly, Bulgaria, and northern 
Greece, leaving little of the Balkan region beyond its borders. 
In 1389 its independence ended as a result of the battle of 
Kossovo, and it became tributary to the conquering empire 
of the Turks. In another half-century it became a pro- 
vince of Turkey in Europe, and so remained for nearly two 
hundred years. 

Its succeeding history may be rapidly summarized. In 
1718 it was ceded to Austria, with its capital Belgrade, by 
Turkey, but in 1739 it was handed back. Barbarous 
treatment of the Christian population of Serbia by its half- 
civilized rulers led to a series of insurrections, ending in 1812 
in its independence, by the terms of the Treaty of Bukarest. 
The Turks won it back in 1813, but in 1817 under its leader, 
Milosh, its complete independence was attained. 
After the fall of Plevna in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-8, 
Serbia joined its forces to those of Russia, and by the Treaty 
of Berlin it obtained an accession of territory and full recog- 
nition by the Powers of Europe of its independence. In 
1885 a national rising took place in Eastern Roumelia, a 
province of Turkey, which led to the Turkish governor being 
expelled and union with Bulgaria proclaimed. Serbia de- 
manded a share of this new acquisition of territory and w ent 
to war with Bulgaria, but met with a severe defeat. When, 
in 1908, Austria annexed the former Turkish provinces of 
Bosnia and Herzegovina, the people of Serbia were highly 
indignant, these provinces being largely inhabited by people 
of the Serbian race. The exasperation thus caused is of 
importance, especially as it was augmented by the policy of 
Austria in thwarting Serbia's efforts to obtain a port on the 
Adriatic after the Balkan War of 1912-13. The seething 
feeling of enmity thus engendered had its final outcome in 
the assassination of the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand in 
1914, and the subsequent invasion of Serbia by Austria. 
882 



TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 

We have here spoken of the stages by which Serbia gradually 
won its independence from Turkey and its recognition as a 
full-fledged member of the European family of nations. 
There are several others of the Balkan group which similarly 
attained their freedom and to the story of which some 
passing allusion is desirable. 

How Greece won its independence has been already told. 
Another of the group, the diminutive mountain state of 
Montenegro, much the smallest of them all, has the honour 
of being the only section of that region of Europe that did 
not come under Ottoman rule during the long centuries of 
Turkish domination. Its mountainous character enabled 
its hardy inhabitants to hold their own against the Turks in 
a series of deadly struggles. In 1876-8 its ruler. Prince 
Nicholas, joined in the war of Russia and Serbia against 
Turkey, the result being that 1900 square miles were added 
to its territory by the Treaty of Berlin. In 1910 it was 
changed from a principality into a kingdom, Prince Nicholas 
gaining the title of King Nicholas. A second acquisition of 
territory succeeded the Balkan War of 1913, the adjoining 
Turkish province of Novi-bazar being divided between it 
and Serbia. 

Turkey in Europe 

With this summary of the story of the Balkans we shall 
proceed to give in more detail its recent history, comprising 
the wars of 1876-8 and of 1912-13. As for the relations 
between Turkey and the Balkan peninsula, it is well known 
how the Asiatic conquerors known as Turks, having subdued 
Asia Minor, invaded Europe in the middle of the fourteenth 
century, overran most of the Balkan country, and attacked 
and took Constantinople in 1453, a hundred years later. 
Serbia, Bosnia, Albania, and Greece were added to the 
Ottoman empire, which subdued half of Hungary and re- 
ceived its first check on land before the walls of Vienna in 

383 



THE NATIONS AT WAR | 

1529, and on the ocean at the battle of Lepanto in 15711 
Vienna was again besieged by the Turks in 1683, and waj 
then saved from capture by Sobieski of Poland and Charlei 
of Lorraine. | 

This was the end of Turkish advance in Europe. Since ther 
Turkey has been gradually yielding to European assault! 
Russia beginning its persistent attacks upon her aboul 
the middle of the eighteenth century. At that time Turkey 
occupied a considerable section of southern Russia, but by 
the end of the century much of this had been regained. Ii^ 
1812 Russia won that part of Moldavia and Bessarabia 
which lies on her side of the Pruth, and gained the principalj 
mouth of the Danube, in 1829 being also awarded somd 
islands at the mouth of the river. In the same year shd 
crossed the Balkans and entered Adrianople, and the in- 
dependence of Greece was acknowledged shortly after. 
The next important event in the history of Turkey in Europe 
was the Crimean War, the story of which has been told in 
an earlier chapter. Among its results were a weakening of 
Russian influence in Turkey, the abolition of the Russian 
protectorate over Moldavia and Wallachia (united in 1861 
as the principality of Roumania), and the cession to Turkey 
of part of Bessarabia. 

Turkey also came out of the Crimean War weakened and 
shorn of territory. But the Turkish idea of government 
remained unchanged, and in twenty years' time Russia was 
goaded into another war. In 1875 a serious rising took place 
in Herzegovina, and Bosnia too rebelled in consequence of 
the insufferable oppression of the Turkish tax-collectors. 
The brave Bosnians maintained themselves so sturdily in 
their mountain fastnesses that the Turks almost despaired 
of subduing them, and the Christian subjects of the Sultan 
in all quarters became so stirred up that a general revolt 
was threatened. 



884 




o 

< I 



TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 

The Bulgarian Atrocities 

The Turks undertook to prevent this in their usual 
fashion. Irregular troops were sent into Christian Bulgaria 
with orders to kill all they met. It was an order of the 
traditional Turkish kind. The defenceless villages of Bul- 
garia were entered and their inhabitants slaughtered in 
cold blood till thousands of men, women, and children had 
been slain. 

When tidings of these atrocities reached Europe the nations 
were filled with horror. The Sultan made smooth excuses, 
and diplomacy sought to settle the affair, but it became 
evident that a massacre so terrible as this could not be 
condoned so easily. The whole of England, with Disraeli 
at its head as Prime Minister, at first disbelieved the stories 
that were in the air ; and when their truth in all its terrible 
reality was proved beyond doubt Disraeli found himself in 
a difficult position. The fear lest, if he allied himself with 
the other Powers against Turkey, Russia would gain vast 
accessions of power and territory in the Near East at first 
kept him inactive ; but Gladstone, at that time in retirement, 
arose in his might, and by his pamphlet on the " Bulgarian 
Atrocities " so aroused public sentiment in England that 
the government dared not back up Turkey in the coming 
war. His denunciation rang through England like a trumpet- 
call. " Let the Turks now carry away their abuses in the 
only possible manner — by carrying off themselves," he wrote. 
" Their Zaptiehs and their Mudirs, their Bimbashis and 
their Yuzbashis, their Kaimakams and their Pashas, one 
and all, bag and baggage, will, I hope, be cleared from the 
province they have desolated and profaned." 
He followed up this pamphlet by a series of speeches, de- 
livered to great meetings and to the House of Commons, 
with which for four years he sought, as he expressed it, 
" night and day to counterwork the purpose " of Disraeli, 
who by now had become Lord Beaconsfield. He succeeded, 

2 B 385 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

and England was prevented by his eloquence from joining 
the Turks in the war. 

Hostilities were soon proclaimed. The Russians, of the 
same race and religion as the Bulgarians, were excited 
beyond control, and in April, 1877, Alexander II declared 
war against Turkey. The outrages of the Turks had been 
so flagrant that no allies came to their aid, while the rotten- 
ness of their empire was shown by the rapid advance of the 
Russian armies. The latter crossed the Danube in June. A 
month later they had occupied the principal mountain passes 
of the Balkans and were in position to descend on the broad 
plain that led to Constantinople. But at this point in their 
career they met with a serious check. Osman Pasha, the 
single Turkish commander of ability that the war developed, 
occupied the town of Plevna with a force of 50,000 men, i 
fortified it as strongly as possible, and from its walls defied I 
the Russians. j 

The Defence of Plevna I 

The invaders dared not advance and leave this stronghold i 
in their rear. For nearly five months all the power of Russia 
and the skill of its generals were held in check by Osman 
Pasha, until Europe and America alike looked on with 
admiration at his remarkable defence, and the cause of the 
war was almost forgotten. The Russian general Kriidener 
was repulsed with the loss of 8000 men. The daring Skobeleff 
strove in vain to throw his troops over Osman's walls. At 
length General Todleben undertook the siege, adopting the 
slow but safe method of starving out the defenders. Osman 
Pasha now showed his courage, as he had already shown his 
endurance. When hunger and disease began to reduce the 
strength of his men he resolved on a final desperate effort. 
At the head of his brave garrison the ' Lion of Plevna ' 
sallied from the city, and fought with desperate courage to 
break through the circle of his foes. On December 10th 
386 



TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 

he was finally driven back into the city and compelled to 
surrender. 

Osman had won glory, but his fall was the fall of the Turkish 
cause. The Russians crossed the Balkans, capturing in the 
Shipka Pass a Turkish army of 30,000 men. Adrianople 
was taken on January 20th, 1878, and the Turkish line of 
retreat cut off. The Russians marched to the Bosphorus, 
and the Sultan was compelled to sue for peace to save 
his capital from falHng into the hands of the Christians, 
as it had fallen into those of the Turks four centuries 
before. 

Russia had won the game for which she had made so long 
a struggle. The treaty of San Stefano, which concluded it, 
practically decreed the dissolution of the Turkish empire. 
But at this juncture the other nations of Europe, who could 
not stand aside and see the balance of power destroyed by 
Russia becoming master of Constantinople, stepped in, and 
England demanded that the treaty should be revised by 
the Powers. Russia protested, but Disraeh threatened war, 
and the Tsar gave way. 

The Congress of Berlin 

The Congress of Berlin, to which the treaty was referred, 
settled the question in the following manner : Montenegro, 
Roumania, and Serbia were declared independent, and Bul- 
garia became free, except that it had to pay an annual 
tribute to the Sultan. She gained some accession of territory, 
but the part of old Bulgaria that lay south of the Balkan 
Mountains was, under the name Eastern Roumelia, left 
under the military control of Turkey, but given its own civil 
government. Bosnia and Herzegovina were left to Turkey, 
but under the military control of Austria. All that Russia 
obtained were some provinces in Asia Minor, and some 
Bessarabian territory from Roumania. Turkey was terribly 
shorn, and since then her power has been further reduced, 

387 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

for in 1885 Eastern Roumelia broke loose from her control 
and united herself again to Bulgaria. 

Another twenty years passed, and Turkey found itself at 
war again. It was the old story, the oppression of the 
Christians. This time the trouble began in Armenia, a 
part of Turkey in Asia, where in 1895 and 1896 terrible 
massacres took place. Germany, on the look-out for fresh 
spheres of influence and concessions from the Sultan, actually 
supported Turkey, but with this one inglorious exception 
indignation reigned in the whole of Europe ; fears of a general 
war, however, kept the Powers from using force, and the 
Sultan's promises of reform were not kept. 
In 1896 the Christians of the island of Crete broke out in 
revolt against the oppression and tyranny of Turkish rule. 
Of all the Powers of Europe little Greece was the only one 
that came to their aid, and the great nations, still inspired 
with the fear of a general war, sent their fleet and threatened 
Greece with blockade unless she w^ould withdraw her troops. 
The result was one scarcely expected. The ruler of neither 
country was wishful for war, but the Sultan was egged on 
by Germany, while the popular feeling in Greece ran so high 
against Turkey that King George found himself carried off 
his feet. He probably thought that at the eleventh hour 
the Powers would step in and prevent a conflict, but this did 
not happen till his country was beaten to her knees. Greece 
gathered a threatening army on the frontier of Turkey, and 
war broke out in 1897 between the two states. 
The Turks, now under an able commander, showed much 
of their ancient valour and intrepidity, crossing the frontier, 
defeating the Greeks in a rapid series of engagements, and 
occupying Thessaly, while the Greek army was driven back 
in a state of utter demoralization. At this juncture, when 
Greece lay at the mercy of Turkey, as Turkey had lain at 
that of Russia twenty years before, the Powers intervened 
to save her from ruin. Turkey was bidden to call a halt, 
388 



TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 

and the Sultan reluctantly stopped the march of his army. 
He demanded the whole of Thessaly and a large indemnity 
in money. The former the Powers refused to grant, and 
they reduced the indemnity to £3,600,000, at the same time 
putting the finances of Greece under European control. 
Thus the affair ended, and such, so far as was apparent, was 
the position of the Eastern Question until the hatred of the 
Balkan States again leaped into flame in the memorable 
Balkan War of 1912. 

Hostile Sentiments of the Balkans 
As may be seen from what has been said, the sentiment of 
hostility between the Christian States of the Balkan region 
and the Mohammedan empire of Turkey was not likely to 
be easily allayed. The atrocities of persecution which the 
Christians had suffered at the hands of the Turks were 
unforgotten and unavenged, and to them was added an 
ambitious desire to widen their dominions at the expense of 
Turkey, if possible to drive Turkey completely out of Europe 
and extend their areas of control to the Mediterranean and 
the Bosphorus. These states consisted of Serbia, made an 
autonomous principality in 1830, an independent principality 
in 1878, and a kingdom in 1882 ; Bulgaria, an autonomous 
principality in 1878, an independent kingdom in 1908 ; 
Montenegro, an independent principahty in 1878, a kingdom 
in 1910 ; and Eastern Roumeha, autonomous in 1878, annexed 
to Bulgaria in 1885. Roumania, an autonomous principahty 
in 1802, an independent principality in 1878, a kingdom 
in 1881, is not, strictly speaking, one of the Balkan States, 
but is often treated as such. Adjoining these on the south 
was Greece, an independent kingdom since 1830. The 
former provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina had been 
assigned to Austrian administrative control in 1878, and 
were annexed by Austria-Hungary in 1908, an act which 
added to the feeling of unrest in the Balkans. 

389 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

The relations existing between the Balkan States and their 
neighbours was one of dissatisfaction and hostility which 
might at any time break into war, this being especially the 
case with those which bordered directly upon Turkey- 
Serbia, Bulgaria, Montenegro, and Greece. As regards 
the reasons impelling Greece to take an active part in the 
war, it must be remembered that the great majority of 
Greeks still lived under the Turkish flag, while the twelve 
islands in the ^^gean Sea seized by Italy during its war 
with Turkey were clamouring to be annexed to Greece instead 
of being returned to Turkey by the treaty of peace between 
Italy and Turkey. Roumania, besides being not actually a 
member of the group, was removed from contact, and had 
less occasion to entertain warlike sentiments. 

Incitement to War 

A fitting time for this indignation and hostile feeling to 
break out into war came in 1912, at the close of the Turco- 
Italian war, which resulted in the conquest of Tripoli by 
Italy. This war, settled by a protocol in favour of Italy on 
October 15th, 1912, had caused financial losses and political 
unrest in Turkey which offered a promising opportunity for 
the states to carry into effect their long-cherished design. 
By the middle of 1912 the Greek premier had succeeded in 
bringing about an alliance between Greece, Serbia, Bulgaria, 
and Montenegro ; and in September Turkey gave the 
necessary excuse for war by her persistent refusal to execute 
the reforms in Macedonia that she had so often promised. 
Mobilization in the Balkans was complete by the end of 
September, and on October 8th Montenegro declared war 
on the common enemy. Turkey replied on the 17th by 
declaring war on Serbia and Bulgaria, and on the same day 
Greece joined in, sending her ultimatum to Constantinople. 
But acts of war did not wait for a formal declaration. On 
October 5th, King Peter of Serbia thus explained to the 
390 



TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 

National Assembly of that state his reasons for mobilizing 
his troops : 

" I have applied with friendly counsels to Constantinople 
regarding the misery which the Christian nationalities, 
including ours, are suffering in Turkey, and it is to be re- 
gretted that all this was of no avail. Instead of the expected 
reforms we were surprised a few days ago by the mobilization 
of the Turkish army near our frontiers. To this act, by 
which our safety was endangered, Serbia had only one reply. 
By my decree our army was put into a mobile state. 
" Our position is clear. Our duty is to undertake measures 
insuring our safety. It is our duty, in conformity with other 
Christian Balkan States, to do everything in our power to 
insure proper conditions for a real and permanent peace in 
the Balkans." 

The first raid into Turkish territory was made by the Bul- 
garian bandit Sandansky, who in 1902 had kidnapped Miss 
Ellen M. Stone, an American missionary, and held her for 
a ransom of £13,000 to furnish funds for his campaign. 
At the head of a band of 2500 Bulgarians he crossed the 
frontier and burned the Turkish blockhouse at Oschumava, 
afterward occupying a strategic position above the Struma 
River. 

Fighting begins 

The Montenegrin army opened the war on October 9th, by 
attacking a strong Turkish position opposite Podgoritza, 
Franz Peter, the youngest son of King Nicholas, firing the 
first shot. Bulgaria, without waiting to declare war, crossed 
the frontier on October 14th and made a sharp attack on the 
railway patrols between Sofia and Uskub. Sharp fighting at 
the same time took place on the Greek frontier, the Greeks 
capturing Maluna Pass, the chief mountain pass leading from 
Greece to Turkey. 

The war developed with great rapidity, a number of 

391 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

important battles being fought, in which the Turks were 
defeated. The mihtary strength of the combined states 
exceeded that of Turkey, and within a month's time they 
made rapid advances, the goals being Constantinople, 
Adrianople, Salonica, and Scutari. 

The Advance on Adrianople 

The most important of the Balkan movements was that 
of the Bulgarian army upon Adrianople, the second to Con- 
stantinople in importance of Turkish cities. By October 
20th the Bulgarian main army had forced the Turks back 
upon the outward forts of this stronghold, while the left wing 
threatened the important post of Kirk-Kilisse, in Thrace, 
about thirty miles north-east of Adrianople. This place, 
regarded as ' the Key to Adrianople,' was taken on the 
24th, after a three days' fight, the Turkish forces, said to be 
150,000 strong, retiring in disorder. 

The Bulgarians continued their advance, fighting over a wide 
semicircular area before Adrianople, upon which city they 
gradually closed, taking some of the outer forts and making 
their bombardment felt within the city itself. 

Victories of the Allies 

While the Bulgarians were making such vigorous advances 
toward the capital of the Turkish empire, their allies were 
winning victories in other quarters. Novi-bazar, capital of 
the sanjak, or province, of the same name, was taken by the 
Serbians on October 23rd, after a hard-fought battle at 
Kumanovo, where the Turks were completely routed. 
Other important towns of Old Serbia were taken, including 
Uskub, the capital of the ancient Serbian empire, captured 
on the 26th, and Istib, 45 miles to the south-west, occupied 
without opposition on the following day. This place, a very 
strong natural position in the mountains, was known as the 
Adrianople of Macedonia. The victors were everywhere 
392 



TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 

received by the citizens with demonstrations of joy ; tobacco 
and refreshments were pressed upon the soldiers, while the 
people put all their possessions at the disposal of the military 
authorities. 

The Greeks were also successful, an army under the Crown 
Prince capturing the town of Elassona, on the frontier of 
Thessaly and Macedonia, on October 20th. Marching north- 
ward they defeated the Turks at Kosani on the 26th, took 
Veria three days later, and on November 2nd inflicted a 
crushing defeat on the enemy at Yenidje. Partly owing to 
this, and partly to the threat from another Greek division 
to the south the important town of Salonica was surrendered 
on the 8th. 

Another Greek army meanwhile took Nicopolis and other 
places in the Epirus, and before long shut up a large Turkish 
force in Janina, which capitulated early in March, 1913. 
Montenegro, in the meantime, was winning many successes, 
but from about the middle of October her army had been 
besieging Scutari, the capture of which they regarded as of 
high importance as a means of widening the area of their 
narrow kingdom. 

The Bulgarian Successes 

While these movements were taking place in the west, the 
siege of Adrianople was vigorously pushed. It was com- 
pletely surrounded by Bulgarian troops by the beginning of 
November, and its commander was formally summoned to 
surrender the city. The summons, of course, was not com- 
pHed with, and the besiegers had great difficulties to over- 
come, the country around being inundated by the rivers 
Maritza and Arda in consequence of heavy rains. These 
floods at the same time impeded the movements of the Turks. 
On November 2nd, after another three-days' fight, the 
Bulgarians achieved the great success of the war, defeating 

a Turkish army of 200,000 men. 

393 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

Apparently the Turks had been completely outmanoeuvred 
^ by Savoff's generalship, but the Turkish commander was 
induced by a Bulgarian turning movement along the Black 
Sea coast to throw his main army to the eastward, with such 
effect that the Bulgarian force on this side had the greatest 
difficulty in holding the Turks in check. The Bulgarians 
gave way, and enabled Nazim Pasha to report to Constanti- 
nople some success in this direction. In the meantime, 
^ however. General Savoff hurled his great strength against 
the Turks' weakened left wing, which he crushed in at Lule 
Burgas. The fighting along the whole front, which was of 
the most stubborn and determined character, was carried on 
day and night without intermission, and both sides lost 
heavily. 

The final result was to force the Turks within the defensive 
lines of Tchatalja, the only remaining fortified position 
protecting Constantinople. These lines lie twenty-five miles 
to the north-west of the capital. 

Less than a month had passed since war had been declared. 
The first week of the campaign closed with the dramatic 
fall of Kirk-Kilisse, fully revealing for the first time the 
disorganization, bad morale, and inefficient commissariat of 
the Turkish army. Ten days later that army was defeated 
and routed, within fifty miles of Constantinople. 
The seat of war between Bulgaria and Turkey, apart from 
the continued siege of Adrianople, was by this success 
transferred to the Tchatalja lines, along which the opposing 
armies lay stretched during the week succeeding the Lule 
Burgas victory. Here siege operations were vigorously pro- 
secuted, but the Turks, though weakened by an outbreak of 
cholera in their ranks, succeeded in maintaining their position. 

Steps toward Peace 

Elsewhere victory followed the banners of the allies. We 

have seen that on November 8th the important port of 

394 



TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 

Salonica was taken by the Greeks : on the 18th the Serbians 
captured Monastir, the remaining Turkish stronghold in 
Macedonia. The fighting here was desperate, lasting three 
days, the Turkish losses amounting to about 20,000 men. 
In Albania the Montenegrin siege of Scutari continued, 
though so far without success. 
Turkey had now had enough of the war. On November 3rd, 

1912, she had asked a mediation of the Powers, but these 
replied that she must treat directly with the Balkan nations. 
This caused delay until the end of the month, the protocol 
of an armistice being approved by the Turkish Cabinet on 
November 30th, and signed by representatives of Turkey, 
Bulgaria, Serbia, and Montenegro on December 3rd. Greece 
refused to sign, but at a later date agreed to take part in a 
conference to meet in London on December 16th. 

This peace conference continued in session until January 6th, 

1913, without reaching any conclusions, Turkey refusing to 
accept the Balkan demands that she should yield practically 
the whole of her territory in Europe. x\t the final session of 
the conference she renounced her claim to the suzerainty 
of the island of Crete, (which went definitely to Greece), 
and promised to rectify her Thracian frontier, but insisted 
upon the retention of Adrianople. This place, the original 
capital of the Ottoman Empire in Europe, and containing 
the splendid mosque of Sultan Selim, was highly esteemed 
by the Mohammedans, who clung to it as a sacred city. 
War seemed likely to be resumed, though the European 
Powers strongly suggested to Turkey the advisability of 
yielding on this point, and leaving the question of the fate 
of the JEgean Islands to the Powers, which promised also 
to guard Mussulman interests in Adrianople. Finally, on 
January 22nd, 1913, the Porte consented to this request 
of the Powers, a decision which was vigorously resented by 
the warlike party known as Young Turks. 
Demonstrations at once broke out in Constantinople, leading 

395 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

to the overthrow of the Cabinet and the murder of Nazim 
Pasha, former Minister of War and commander-in-chief of 
the Turkish army. He was succeeded by Enver Bey, the 
most spirited leader of the Young Turks, who became chief 
of staff of the army. 

On January 30th the Balkan allies denounced their armistice 
and a renewed war seemed imminent. On the same day 
the Ottoman Government offered a compromise, agreeing 
to divide Adrianople between the contestants in such a way 
that they themselves might retain the mosques and the 
historic monuments. 

The War resumed 

To this compromise the Balkan allies refused to agree, and 
on February 3rd hostile operations were resumed. The in- 
vestment of Adrianople had remained intact during the 
interval, and on the 5th a vigorous bombardment took 
place, the Turkish response being weak. Forty Serbian seven- 
inch guns had been mounted, and their shells fell into the 
town, part of which broke into flames. At points the lines 
of besiegers and besieged were only 200 yards apart. An 
energetic attack was made by the Bulgarians and Serbs on 
March 14th, ending in a repulse, and on the 22nd another 
vigorous assault was begun, continuing with terrific fighting 
for four days. It ended in a surrender of the city on the 
26th. The siege had continued for 152 days. Before 
yielding the Turks blew up the arsenal and set fire to the 
city at several points. At the same time Tchatalja, which 
had been actively assailed, fell into the hands of the alhes 
and Constantinople lay open to assault. 

Siege of Scutari 

In the west the operations against Scutari by the Monte- 
negrins, led by King Nicholas in person, still went on. 
Serbian artillery aided in the assault, but the city was not 
396 



TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 

captured until April 25th, when an entire day's ceaseless 
fighting ended in the yielding of the garrison, the climax of 
a six-month siege. 

Meanwhile the Powers of Europe had again offered their 
good services to mediate between the warring forces, and 
a conditional mediation was agreed to by the Balkan allies. 
Movements toward peace, however, proceeded slowly, the 
most interesting event of the period being a demand by 
Austria, backed by Italy, that Montenegro should give up 
the city of Scutari. Earnest protests were made against 
this by King Nicholas, but the dispatch of an Austrian naval 
division on April 27th to occupy his ports and march upon 
Cettinje, his capital, obliged him reluctantly to yield, and 
on May 5th Scutari was given up to Austria, to form part of 
a projected Albanian kingdom. 

Treaty of Peace 

Peace between the warring nations was finally concluded 
on May 30th, 1913, the treaty providing that Turkey should 
cede to her allied foes all territory west of a line drawn from 
Enos on the ^gean coast to Midia on the coast of the Black 
Sea. This gave Adrianople to the Bulgarians and left 
Turkey with only a narrow strip of territory west of Con- 
stantinople, the meagre remnant of her once great holdings 
upon the continent of Europe. The victors desired to divide 
the conquered territory upon a plan arranged between them 
before the war, but the purposes of Austria and Italy were 
out of agreement with this design and the Powers insisted 
on forming out of the districts assigned to Serbia and Greece 
a new principality to be named Albania, embracing the 
region occupied by the unruly Albanian tribes. 
This plan gave intense dissatisfaction to the allies. It 
seemed designed to cut off Serbia from an opening upon 
the Mediterranean, which that inland state ardently de- 
sired and Austria strongly opposed. Montenegro was also 

397 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

deprived of the long coveted city of Scutari, which she had 
won after so vigorous a strife. Bulgaria also was dissatisfied 
and opposed the demands of Serbia and Greece for com- 
pensation in land, either for the loss of Albania or for their 
support of the Bulgarian operations. 

Albania 

The creation of Albania, or — to speak more correctly — the 
revival in a modified form of an ancient kingdom, was the 
logical outcome of the success of the Balkan States. Among 
the numerous charges laid by the allied states at the Sultan's 
feet before the commencement of war was his misrule of 
Albania and his total inability to cope with the frequent 
risings that took place in that corner of his dominions. 
Since 1479 Albania had been under Turkish rule, but before 
that date she had been an independent kingdom governed 
by her own native kings. 

At the close of the wars of 1912-13 it was decreed by the 
Powers that what was left of Albania after Serbia, Greece, 
and Montenegro had been awarded portions (viz., about 
10,000 square miles, its western boundary washed by the 
waters of the Adriatic) should be constituted an independent 
principality. An International Commission of Control was 
instituted to look after its civil and financial administration, 
and early in 1914 the new throne was accepted by a German 
major. Prince William of Wied. 

Unrest, however, has been the lot of Albania ever since, 
caused mainly by the divergent ideas and wishes of her 
Greek and Turkish population. In July the prince was 
besieged in his capital, Durazzo, and had to be rescued by 
Austrian and Italian warships ; his position was becoming 
more and more impossible, and in the first week of September 
he quitted his principality in an Italian government steamer. 
Thus ended the latest attempt of Germany to supply the 
world with rulers ; the International Commission has, so 
398 



TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 

far as is possible, taken over control, but a provisional 
government was formed in October, with Essad Pasha, a 
leading native chief, as its president ; and until matters of 
greater consequence on the continent of Europe are settled 
it is impossible to say what will be the fate of this turbulent 
little principality. 

War between the Allies 

The immediate result of the creation of this state in 1913 was 
to rouse hostilities anew among the Balkan allies, which 
speedily flung them into a fresh war. Bulgaria refused to 
yield any of the territory held by it to the Serbians and 
Greeks, and Greece in consequence made a secret league 
with Serbia against Bulgaria. 

It was the old story of a fight over the division of the spoils. 
It is doubtful which of the contestants began hostile opera- 
tions, but Bulgaria lost no time in marching upon Salonica, 
held by Greece, though it had been captured by the Bul- 
garians, and in attacking the Greek and Serbian outposts 
in Macedonia. The plans of General Savoff, who had led 
the Bulgarians to victory in the late war and who commanded 
in this new outbreak, in some way fell into the hands of the 
Greeks and gave them an important advantage. They at 
once, in conjunction with the Serbians, attacked the Bul- 
garians and drove them back. From the accounts of the 
war, probably exaggerated, this struggle was accompanied by 
revolting barbarities upon the inhabitants of the country 
invaded, each country accusing the other of shameful 
indignities. 

What would have been the result of the war, if fought out 
between the original contestants, it is impossible to say, for at 
this juncture, another state, which had taken no part in 
the Turkish war, came into the field. This was Roumania, 
lying north of Bulgaria and removed from any contact with 
Turkey. It had had a quarrel with Bulgaria, dating back 

399 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

to 1878, concerning certain territory to which it laid claim. 
This was a strip of land on the south side of the Danube 
near its mouth and containing Silistria and some other 
cities. 

The Final Settlement 

King Carol of Roumania now took the opportunity to demand 
this territory, and when his demand was refused by Fer- 
dinand of Bulgaria he marched an army across the Danube 
and took the Bulgarians, exhausted by their recent struggle, 
in the rear. No battles were fought. The Roumanian army 
advanced until within thirty miles of Sofia, the Bulgarian 
capital, and Ferdinand was obliged to appeal for peace, 
and in the subsequent treaty yielded to Roumania the tract 
desired, which served to round off its frontier on the Black 
Sea. 

Another unexpected event took place. While her late foes 
were struggling in a war of their own, Turkey, despite the 
protests of the Powers, quietly stepped into the arena, 
and, on July 22nd, regained possession, without opposition, of 
Adrianople, Bulgaria's great prize in the late war. 
A peace conference was held at Bukarest, the capital of 
Roumania, beginning July 26th, and it framed a treaty, 
signed on August 7th, 1913. This provided for the evacuation 
of Bulgaria by the invading armies, and also for a division 
of the conquered territory. Bulgaria gained the largest 
amount of territory, though less than she had claimed. 
Greece retained the important seaport of Salonica, the 
possession of which had been hotly disputed, and gained 
the largest sea front. Montenegro, though deprived of the 
much coveted Scutari, was assigned part of northern Albania 
and the Turkish sanjak of Novi-bazar adjoining on the east, 
her diminutive territory being thus considerably increased. 
Serbia had most reason to be dissatisfied with the result, in 
view of her craving for an opening to the sea. Cut off by 
400 




KURDISH RECRUITS FOR THE TURKISH ARMY 

Photo Underwood and Underwood, London 400 



TURKEY AND THE BALKAN STATES 

Albania on the west, it sought an opening on the south, 
demanding the city of Kavala, on the ^gean Sea. But to 
this Greece strongly objected, as that city, one of the great 
tobacco marts of the world, was inhabited almost wholly 
by Greeks. Serbia, however, extended southward far over 
its old territory, gaining Uskub, its old capital. And the 
Powers also agreed that it should have commercial rights 
on the Mediterranean, through railway connection with 
Salonica. 

In these wars it is estimated that 358,000 persons lost their 
lives, and that the cost of the two wars, to the several nations 
involved, reached a total of £250,000,000. 
As regards Turkey's shrewd advantage of the opportunity 
to retake Adrianople, it proved a successful move. The 
Russian press strongly advocated that the Turks should be 
ejected, but the jealousy of the Powers prevented any 
agreement as to who should do this and in the end the Turks 
remained, with a considerable widening of the tract of land 
before assigned to them. 

It would seem, however, that the respite obtained by 
Turkey will prove to be a temporary measure, and it is 
more than probable that one result of the Great War, in 
which Turkey so foolishly took a part at the bidding of 
Germany, will be that final expulsion of the Turk from Europe 
— ' bag and baggage,' as Gladstone's time-honoured phrase 
runs— which has been so long desired by her neighbours, 
if not, indeed, by the whole of Christendom. 



2 c 401 



I' 



CHAPTER XXIV 

LOOKING TO THE END OF THE WAR 

A Postscript by Eden Phillpotts 

Germany^s Insensate Ambition : The Great German 
Illusion : The Break-down of Common Sense : Bedlam 
in Europe : The Remedy for the Disease : When the 
End comes 
IF ever a monarch embraced within his own diathesis the 
very genius of his country at the particular moment when 
he ruled it, that monarch is William II of Germany. And to 
this accident he owes the extraordinary affection and esteem 
in which his subjects hold him. For together, the Kaiser 
and the Fatherland, over a period of half a century, have 
slowly, but steadily, attained to the convictions which pro- 
duce their present appalling situation. They cannot, how- 
ever, fall together, since while a monarch or a monarchy is 
mortal, the State is not. 

That he was influenced by the trend of thought and prevalent 
ambitions ; that the atmosphere which he breathed after 
the Franco-Prussian War went far to form the Kaiser's 
character, is most certain. Once free of restraining influences 
and the genius which created existing Germany, he launched 
forth on his own adventure, with none to show him the sequel, 
none to manifest that, instead of building on the foundations 
so securely laid, he was about to undermine them. 

Germany's Insensate A^ibition 

Germany has long rejoiced in her might, and a period of 
intoxicating success has obscured her intellectual outlook 
and blunted her spiritual perception. But a sated man's 
brain is never at its best, and a sated nation stands in danger. 
She drank too deeply at the wells of her own ambition ; 
her immense energy and abundant genius were poured into 
material channels, and a patriotism vital to all nations 
became, in her case, vitiated by a parochial selfishness, which 
402 



LOOKING TO THE END OF THE WAR 

lost count of humanity's larger welfare, and became con- 
centrated upon that of herself alone. To be concerned only 
with her own prosperity was natural to a nation newly 
consolidated, a nation without humour and without any 
world-wide experience of other kingdoms, their aims, 
aspirations, and needs ; but to underrate the power of those 
kingdoms, to assume without reason their decay and obso- 
lescence, to instil contempt for them in her rising generation, 
to believe they envied her, to imagine that her turn had 
come to dominate civilization and impose her own vigorous, 
but provincial culture upon the whole earth— this was not 
in reason ; it was an attitude so bigoted and so fanatic 
that it can only be described as pathological. 
The Kaiser exhibits the very spirit of modern Germany in 
his own restless, versatile, self-conscious, and egoistic person. 
A child of the dynasty from which he springs, he echoes the 
megalomania of his nation, speaks with its voice, reverberates 
its convictions, exhibits all its active and acute danger- 
signals of temporary aberration. 

The Great German Illusion 

At present Germany is absolutely ignorant of the disease 
from which she suffers. An illusion more profound and fatal 
than ever attacked any kingdom of earth has fastened upon 
this magnificent people, and not a living physician of their 
own blood stands up and proclaims their malady ; not a 
living surgeon has spoken or announced by what heroic 
operation they may be saved. Their mighty dead had, 
perhaps, rescued them ; but among their mighty living 
there is none immune from the universal ailment. The 
shrewdest, the wisest, the most far-seeing have succumbed 
to the epidemic, and if in Germany to-day there exist respon- 
sible men who perceive the significance of her calenture, 
they dare not voice their discovery or declare the nature 
of her peril. The time is, however, at hand when from the 

403 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

mouths of their babes and suckhngs they will hear the truth. 
It would be interesting to trace the steps by which Germany 
reached her sense of will to power, and to find how a race so 
earnest, so high-minded, so romantic, the mother of great 
poets and profound philosophy, has fallen from her old 
ideals, turned a deaf ear to the cry of universal humanity, 
sought to prey upon the wider civilization, and so poisoned 
the fountains of her own destiny. It will also be vital to 
learn how far her jealousies and grievances are just, and to 
what extent Europe has stood between her and her reasonable 
ambitions ; but such a survey must occupy the genius and 
synthetic power of historians to come. For the moment one 
can only appreciate the results of this downfall and consider 
how Civilization, exemplified in her ultimate conquerors, 
will deal with her disease. 

The Breakdown of Common Sense 

For the dementia is visible at every turn in the actual 
conduct of the war and the negotiations that led up to it. 
Even to a layman, unskilled in strategy or the subterraneous 
methods of Chancelleries, the breakdown of simple common 
sense may be regarded as a most impressive symptom. 
For example, could Germany imagine that England would 
tolerate, without protest, her broken oath to Belgium, or see 
her in that country ? To pretend, as her apologistc do, that 
we left her in doubt of our intentions is absurd. There 
was never a doubt. Unless we wanted to commit suicide, 
there could have been no doubt in the mind of a sane Ger- 
many that England would fight if she set foot in Belgium 
on any pretext whatever. She may have judged us by 
herself so far as the scrap of paper was concerned ; but 
apart from that, she knew as well as we did, what the 
neutrality of Belgium meant to our own existence. Only 
madness could explain real ignorance on that point. Again, 
if she honestly feared aggression and wanted to do no more 
404 



LOOKING TO THE END OF THE WAR 

than protect herself against the threatened attacks of France 
and Russia, why did she not keep her armies within her own 
boundaries and so prove her good faith to the world ? Had 
she done that, there would have been no war, for neither 
Russia nor France would have invaded her. 
To bluff on these questions is not sane, for credence would 
argue a mental weakness in her adversaries, which, if not 
herself unbalanced, she would know never existed. 
Again, her ' frightfulness ' is a theory of attack which has 
no more practical value in winning a war than those ugly 
faces the Chinese warrior was wont to pull at his enemy. 
Does the wasp which stings us secure the prosperity of her 
nest ? Rather she only increases our determination to seek 
it out and destroy it. 

Bedlam in Europe 

Her wise men have spoken with no uncertain voice of her 
own intentions in the event of victory ; they have sketched 
the Europe that she designs to establish under her lordship 
and dominion ; and their sketch is as insane as any painted 
by a Bedlam lunatic. It belongs to the madness of the 
moment, and in the awful event of her victory, there can 
now be no shadow of doubt that she would impose her 
insanity upon the whole earth, sweep away all that for which 
human genius has fought since the Renaissance, and, by a 
mighty autocracy, won with the sword and preserved with 
the sword, throw progress back for centuries and sow the 
seed of innumerable future strifes. Her success must have 
filled the cup of man's despair ; her failure awakens a note 
of universal thankfulness that will swell to the mightiest 
triumph-song this earth has known. 

The Remedy for the Disease 

And what can open Germany's eyes to her sickness ? Will 
defeat cure her malady ? Is it possible to imagine such terms 

405 



THE NATIONS AT WAR 

of peace as shall at once be just to those who have 
suffered from her insanity and illuminating to her own 
darkness ? Is it within the power of Europe to bring 
Germany to such a pass that she shall thank her sister 
nations for her salvation ? Can we point out to her 
the path that her own mania has obscured, cleanse the 
fountains of her august destiny, and set her feet firm 
upon a narrower, nobler way than she has trodden since 
her present monarch ascended the throne ? Can we sound 
a new music in her ear and make her confess of her 
own free will that the thunder of the Prussian drums 
was luring her to ruin ? To consider how a German would 
comment on such a question — to imagine a Bemhardi or 
a Chamberlain, a Eucken or a Haeckel faced with it, is to 
measure the tremendous difficulty before those who will ' 
frame and administer the terms of peace. Even granted 
that no profoimd complications, no ruinous conflicting 
interests will face the Allies themselves— a probability far 
brighter now that Turkey (under the pathological conditions 
induced by the Young Turks) has offered her neck to the 
noose— even granted that Germany's own future is the only 
problem for solution, how terrific that problem would appear ! 
One thing alone is fundamental : she must be left in no 
condition after this war to lift any voice in the terms of 
peace. She must be reduced to the powerlessness of the 
patient whose life by a miracle has been saved. In her 
ultimate exhaustion, when her sickness, diagnosed too late 
to save Europe and herself, has run its course ; when she 
lies past the crisis, capable of recovery, of convalescence, of 
restored health, it behoves her surgeons— they who have 
fought with her and conquered her, not those who have 
looked on— to keep her in the strait-waistcoat and confine her 
within the padded room till all danger be past. That is a 
duty they owe to her and the world. 

406 



LOOKING TO THE END OF THE WAR 

When the End comes 

And when the wings of heahng are opened above her, when 
the scales have fallen from her eyes, the fever-skin peeled 
from her body, is it too much to hope that she will see a 
little of the awful evil that she has done in her fury and 
measure the vileness of her methods and the scope of her 
dishonour and the depth of her unfaith ? She will find no 
England above all, no France above all, no Russia above all, 
but a comity of nations inspired with the enthusiasm of 
humanity ; and she will learn that now, as ever, Germany's 
genius is welcome in the world and debarred from no right 
or privilege of civilization. 

Gleaning from history the power latent in a beaten nation 
and the salvation implicit in defeat, I would make harder 
terms with Germany than are likely to be made ; and I would 
impose upon her such necessities that never again should it 
be within her reach to convulse the world, or play havoc 
with her own enormous significance in mundane affairs ; 
but, for the rest, above all things, I would strive to preserve 
her self-respect in this disillusionment, welcome her again, 
whole in her right mind, to the councils of men, take awful 
note from her of the dangers which lie in the path of the 
mightiest, and remember that it is only the crown of the 
mountains that the lightning strikes. 

Chapter XXIV is reprinted from 
the " Daily Chronicle," where it 
appeared under the title " Those 
that sit in Darkness." 



•c 



. ^I^- 













.0 









'^ "-^^ V^ 



vV ■/',> 














s" ^ Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 

Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
Treatment Date; u iv 7nni 



,•0' 



\^^ 



/. v^^ 



ueacianieu using ine DooKneefjei jjiuubj 

''■^y %^ Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 

;, ' ■■ , Treatment Date: w.y 2001 

% '« PreservationTechnologies 

\ \ H . •/• A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

SN ' '■ O 

."tS ^'^ .r':--j_ ' -^ 111 Thomson Park Drive 

: J^ ,;<■■/ •' ^ Cranberry Township. PA 16066 






111 Thomson Park Dr 
Cranberry Township. I 

r73jH 77Q-P111 







^ " ■*■- 




■ .\ 






^.vi 


"^A 


.^' 




xO ^.. 


'■M 






r~- ' .^ ^ 






'O ,v 


^ ^ '^ 


'■' / 


. -'r. 



^'^ V. '"^^ 



' ^ IK ,,^^'^, 









,^^ 




























OO 






A . 11 V ^ ^ ^ C3 t.> * 

,^ : ^<^ -^■.: 










\ ,. \ 1 



^ 



o 






.,.'•„ 1) =sif.:;y 



